The Botswana centre for human rights was on Monday honored with the Human Rights Prize 2012 of the Commission Nationale Consultative des Droits de l’Homme (CNCDH) of the French Republic.
The award, received by Ditshwanelo Director Alice Mogwe, is in recognition of the centre’s work which is based on enabling the inclusion of all in the promotion, protection and fulfillment of human rights. The award coincided with the commemoration of International Human Rights Day on 10 December.
DITSHWANELO, in its capacity as the Secretariat for the Central Kalahari Game Reserve (CKGR) NGO Coalition, has been working to find ways to realise a people-centred development. In a statement on Monday DITSHWANELO said the prize will enable the centre to contribute in a concrete way to ensuring that the goals of poverty eradication and ‘a dignified life for all’ become realisable.
The project which DITSHWANELO submitted, aims, through the recognition of the socio-cultural and environmental realities of a community, to enable it to meaningfully engage with and participate in sustainable development.
However, for this to happen, the socio-economic, cultural, and environmental rights of the community need to be incorporated into development plans for these to be economically sustainable.
DITSHWANELO further observes that for national development plans, policies and programmes to be truly people-centred, and the effects of implementation to be sustainable, a human rights strategy is required.
“Such a strategy would be centred on the concept of ‘enabling everyone to be able to live their lives with dignity,” said DITSHWANELO.
The Human Rights Prize of the French Republic, “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity”, created in 1988, is awarded for individual or collective action on the ground, irrespective of nationality or borders, undertaken in France or abroad, with respect to one of two themes. The 2012 themes are: the fight against impunity and economic and social rights and sustainable development.
