Chronology of FES in Botswana   1972 After some first successful activities with partners in Botswana, President Sir Seretse Khama invites FES to come to Botswana and to set up an office here. A separate project for Botswana is approved by the German Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development. 1973 Klaus Helfer, starts the socio-political advisory programme in Gaborone as the first project coordinator and resident representative of FES in Botswana. The Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) becomes the main political partner. In the following years an intensive cooperation with the BDP is established in the field of political education. Seminars and workshops about publicity, organisational development, techniques on election campaigns are held on national and local level. Together with other political and institutional partners Klaus Helfer develops ideas and concepts of project areas in which the Friedrich Ebert Foundation can offer expertise: media development, research, promotion of social structures. The FES gets an office within the ministry of industries. Klaus Helfer was highly acknowledged by the political leaders of Botswana. His achievements laid the basis for the work of FES in Botswana. 1974 Klaus Helfer and then vice president Quett K.J. Masire sign the first agreement between the Government of Botswana and the FES. Arne von Kittlitz from the German radio station “Deutsche Welle” initiates the media project (followed by Matthias Deltgen in 1977 and Gerd Manstein in 1980). On the plot of Radio Botswana a training centre for radio-journalist is build and equipped. The training courses are first held by the project staff and later by local trainers. The media project is successfully completed in 1982 and handed over to Radio Botswana.   1975 Klaus Helfer and Quett Masire establish a company called „Rural Industries Promotion“(RIP) with the objective to reduce poverty and unemployment in remote areas and thus help to establish small-scale industries. As one of the first projects of the company, the “Rural Industries Innovation Center” (RIIC) is founded in Kanye with Wolfgang Schunke as the first project director. The RIIC develops simple production technologies and trains local staff. Klaus-Peter Treydte and later Bernd Weimer, Theo Mutter, Joachim Jeske, Klaus Breutner from the research division of FES in Germany begin a cooperation with the “National Institute for Research in Development and African Studies” (NIRDAS) of University of Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland. The objective is to comprehend current empirical research projects in Botswana and to collect and categorise literature of international organisations and other research institutes about Botswana and Southern Africa. This project runs until the end of 1981 1976 Friedrich Grän starts the trade union project with a focus on strengthening trade unions on the organisational level and to promote trade unionist education. In 1977 the then 10 existing industrial trade unions formed the umbrella organisation “Botswana Federation of Trade Unions” (BFTU). FES is promoting and assisting these efforts substantially. Friedrich Grän is followed by Karlheinz Krug in 1981. The Project ends in December 1982 1977 Because of the success of the Rural Industries Innovation Centre a new subsidiary company called “Southern Rural Development Authority” (SRDA) is set up with the objective of assisting people in founding small enterprises. In the following years a variety of new production lines are initiated and with it numerous jobs and small companies are created. In 1979 Werner Ohligschläger takes over from Wolfgang Schunke. Until its final phase out in 1996 the projects of RIIC and SDSR are run subsequently by FES-staff Holger Munsch, Reinhard Dowe, Manfred Böhmer, Dieter Schwonke, Lothar Birkhan, Helmut Zell, Fritz Wörmer and Mirko Hempel. 1978 Thomas Künzer joins Klaus Helfer as FES expert for the political education programmes 1980 Erfried Adam succeeds Klaus Helfer as project coordinator. A revised version of the agreement between the government of Botswana and the Friedrich Ebert Foundation is signed. It has been renewed regularly ever since and remains the basis of operation of FES until today Erfried Adam establishes a socio-political dialogue in which trade union representatives (BFTU), employers (BOCCIM) and government representatives come together to debate various labour issues. He also initiates a project line on local governance. 1984 Uwe Carstens follows Erfried Adam as project coordinator. He concentrates on party support and trade union work. 1985 A regional component of the trade union cooperation begins with the regional umbrella union SATUCC, based in Gaborone. 1986 Christian Schmittlein takes over the coordination of the project from Uwe Carstens. The political education programme with the BDP is scaled down, training for parliamentarians and the strengthening of parliamentary and ministerial administrations is enhanced. 1990 Heinz Bendt follows Christian Schmittlein as project coordinator. Besides further developing the programme on local governance, first steps are made to establish a regional party cooperation. Türkan Karakurt joins the office as FES project assistant. 1991 Sir Ketumile Masire – now president of Botswana – is invited by the FES to visit Germany. 1993 FES Botswana together with FES Mozambique organise a regional conference on „Human Rights and Democracy in Southern Africa“. Parliamentarians, trade unionists and human rights organisations from all over the region participate. “Local Economic Development” is a concept intensively propagated in cooperation with the Botswana Association of Local Authorities (BALA) in different seminaries on the national level. 1994 Kurt Häsemeyer succeeds Heinz Bendt as project coordinator. Direct cooperation with the BDP is phased out completely. Instead, a special emphasis is put on community based economic assistance. Besides ongoing activities on Small and Medium Enterprise Development, a regional networking of the umbrella organization on the level of SADC-states, the “Small Enterprise Promotion Advisory Council” (SEPAC) is promoted. 1995 Vice-President Festus Mogae visits Germany to join the celebrations of the 70th anniversary of FES. One of the members of this delegation is Kaire Mbuende, the executive secretary of SADC. On the occasion of his visit a “Memorandum of Understanding” is signed which defines the elements of future cooperation between FES and the SADC Secretariat. A first effort is made in fostering cooperation of Small and Medium Enterprises in the Region. 1996 Peter Oesterdiekhoff becomes the new project coordinator. His focus is on economic policy and promotion. Project support to the SRDA is phased out, RIP and RIIC continue operating on its own.  From 1996 onwards FES has only one consolidated project directed by one project coordinator and resident representative. 1997 With the support of FES Botswana and in close cooperation with the then minister for local government, Margaret Nasha, the „Caucus for Women in Politics“ (CAUCUS) is founded with the objective of mobilising women to actively participate in the politics of their country and thus to get more women into local councils and parliament. 1998 FES celebrates 25 years in Botswana. On this occasion, the former president Sir Ketumile Masire emphasis the contribution made by FES in strengthening democracy. A regional conference on Gender is organised together with the Gender Unit of the SADC Secretariat, the women organisation “Emang Basadi” and the CAUCUS. 1999 As one of the first activities in the new programme line of youth policy, FES supports the University of Botswana in an empirical study on “aspirations of youth”. Main Partner in this project line is the Botswana National Youth Council (BNYC). 2000 Michael Meier takes over from Peter Oesterdiekhoff as resident representative. He further develops cooperation with different partners of civil society, especially with the women organisations Emang Basadi, CAUCUS as well as with the NGO umbrella organisation BOCONGO. President Festus Mogae visits Berlin for the 75th anniversary of FES in Germany. An international conference on ”Labour Markets in Southern Africa-Strategies for Growth and the Creation of Jobs” is held in Gaborone. The conference is organized by FES and the World Bank. 2001 FES supports founding the Botswana Chapter of Transparency International. FES moves into its present office in the “Village” near the University of Botswana. A “Code of Conduct” for NGOs is elaborated together with BOCONGO. For the first time, a NGO week is organised with public discussion forums and presentation of NGOs. A national conference on “Gender and HIV/AIDS” is organized together with UNDP, GTZ and the Ministry of Labour and Home Affairs. 2002 The project enters into further cooperation with Parliament as well as with the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC). A study on the independence of the Botswana Parliament is initiated. The study is supported by experts from Germany, Canada and Botswana. 2003 Marc Meinardus succeeds Michael Meier as resident representative. Margaret Nasha, now Minister of Lands and Housing and president of CAUCUS participates in the first “Africa Days” of FES in Bonn, Germany. In preparation for the elections in 2004, FES Botswana, with the support of the British Embassy and DFID, launches a workshop programme called “Positioning Women Politicians for 2004 and Beyond”, implemented with the CAUCUS as main partner. 2004 The upcoming elections dominate the content of FES Programmes. In Cooperation with IEC and the BNYC voter education programmes especially for youth are implemented. The project with CAUCUS on mobilizing women politicians continues until June. Elections are held in November, the local NGO-Network BESNet is supported in monitoring the elections. A national conference on social security marks the beginning of a new project line on social policy. First emphasis is put on developing a comprehensive and inclusive social security policy for Botswana. The dialogue on economic policy focuses on the implementation of the new privatisation policy. Together with the Public Enterprise Evaluation and Privatisation Agency (PEEPA) various workshops are organised to involve non-state actors in the ongoing debate. 2005 The first democratic elections in Botswana were held in February 1965. FES memorizes the “40 Years of Democracy in Botswana” with a high level Symposium looking back at 40 years of successful and stable democracy. H.E President Mogae opens the event. A book with the same title is launched in cooperation with the Democracy Research Project (DRP) of the University of Botswana. BALA becomes more active and organises with support from the project a series of workshops on “Local Leadership for Local democracy” which over the next Years shall cover all districts of the country. 2006 Botswana celebrates 40 Years of Independence. FES participates in the official programme with a number of activities with our partners BOCONGO, BNYC, the Women Affairs Department and the Botswana Institute for Development Policy Analysis, BIDPA. With the latter a conference on “Economic Development and Diversification” was organised as the highlight of the programme. A new working line on Regional Integrations begins to take shape. In cooperation with the Department for International Trade (DIT) in the Ministry of Trade and Industry a number of workshops on the role of Botswana in the WTO, in SACU and in SADC are organised. On 13 December, after four years, the longest and most extensive court case of Botswana history, the case on the forceful relocation of Basarwa from the Central Kalahari Game Reserve, CKGR was decided in favour of the Basarwa. They may now return to CKGR, albeit without getting Government support for basic facilities, such as water, health care and schooling. 2007 In the middle of the year, Helmut Elischer takes over the project from Marc Meinardus.       Top of the page
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