Botswana’s social protection policies and practices came under scrutiny at a breakfast seminar co-organised and hosted by Business Botswana and International Labour Organisation (ILO) on Friday. While the Commissioner of Labour Keabonye Selebatso boasted that government provides a wide range of services for families and children which are aimed at reducing poverty as well as providing a social safety net for individuals, vulnerable groups (youth and women) and families, her views attracted missed reactions from other attendants. “I can confidently say Botswana is one of the few countries in Africa that fully funds the social protection programmes out of own resources, and dedicate a significant part of its GDP to this endeavor,” said Selebatso. She cited Ipelegeng, Youth Schemes (Government Voluntary Scheme, Youth Development Fund, Young Framers Fund, etc) Government House Appeal and Old age pension as some of these social protection programmes. Despite Selebatso’s positive appraisals of the government social protection programmes, local economist Dr Keith Jefferies warned that a lot of consideration should be put in ensuring that social protection schemes do not hinder or replace employment creation. According to Jefferies, many social protection schemes in Botswana were badly designed, outdated and mostly targeted the poor. “Ipelegeng for…