Botswana

The national response to HIV in Botswana is strong, with free treatment available to anyone who needs it. This has helped it become one of seven countries in Eastern and Southern Africa to  reach the 90-90-90 testing and treatment targets.

However, this effort is severely undermined by persistent human rights violations against people living with HIV.

We are working here to overcome the stigma and discrimination that is preventing the people who need HIV treatment the most from accessing it.

DID YOU KNOW?

• Around 20.7% of the adult population of Botswana is living with HIV.
• Around 9.3% of young women are living with HIV, versus 5% of young men.
• More than 42.2% of sex workers are living with HIV.

Meet one of OUR PARTNERs

BOTSWANA NETWORK ON ETHICS, LAW AND HIV/AIDS (BONELA)

We believe everyone has the right to access HIV prevention and treatment services, which is why we work with BONELA to ensure justice and dignity for everyone affected by HIV in Botswana.

BONELA implements programmes to address human rights-related barriers to services at scale. They work with a combined approach (across all programme areas) and inclusively (from the grassroots up) in a concentrated geographical area. BONELA has experience with funders such as ARASA and the International Treatment Preparedness Coalition and long-term funding from the Global Fund’s CRG Technical Assistance Program.

Since 2014, BONELA have used a legal aid database to refer and track human rights abuse cases against marginalised people and, in 2016, the team supported the successful registration of Botswana’s first LGBTI organisation, LEGABIBO.

OUR IMPACT IN BOTSWANA

We currently work with BONELA on building the capacity of civil societies to assess social contracting. BONELA is a key partner in Action 9 of our Global Plan of Action. We are also supporting BONELA in implementing REAct.