First Lady Champions Children Rights

First Lady Kaone Boko has called on all stakeholders to be deliberate and bold in protecting children’s rights and welfare. Speaking at the UNICEF Botswana Private Sector Forum for Child Rights on Wednesday, Ms Boko advocated for the integration of child protection measures into early childhood development (ECD) programmes. While acknowledging government’s progress in establishing child-friendly courts, she stressed the need for continued collaboration with the legal system to create a more supportive environment for children.

She also raised concern over child marriages and abuse, calling for urgent action to address violations of children’s rights. Ms Boko urged stakeholders to adopt a comprehensive approach to addressing children’s needs while strengthening community awareness and involvement. She emphasised the importance of publicising ongoing child rights initiatives and improving communication about the work undertaken by organisations such as UNICEF.

Transparency, she said, would encourage greater community participation and support. “We should also have a report to society of some sort so that they know what it is you are doing here. People are saying you are always meeting.

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What is it that you are actually doing? So let us also try to report back and say this is what we have done,” she said. She added that such feedback would encourage more people to participate in and support the forum.

Ms Boko further highlighted the importance of maternal and infant care, particularly for expectant teenagers. She advocated for early engagement with young mothers before childbirth through health talks, nutrition guidance and support programmes. To assist financially challenged expectant mothers, she said her office had distributed delivery bags containing essential items for childbirth and the first months of a baby’s life in some parts of the country.

During outreach programmes across Botswana, Ms Boko said they observed that many teenage mothers arrived at hospitals without basic necessities for their newborns. She said the initiative aimed to bridge that gap and support vulnerable families during critical periods. Additionally, Ms Boko raised concern about developmental disparities between boys and girls. “As we develop the girl child, we also need to develop the boy child to put them in the same position,” she said.

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