UK Envoy on LGBT+ People Stands with Batswana

Botswana and the United Kingdom have a long-running relationship. This has run since the late 1880s. The association has continued to bolster how the collective desires of both states may be achieved. The visit of Lord Nicholas Le Quesne Herbert, the UK Prime Minister’s Special Envoy on LGBT+ Rights to Botswana serves as a beacon through the darkness of overcoming systemic oppressions by the local community. [ihc-hide-content ihc_mb_type="show" ihc_mb_who="1,2,3,4" ihc_mb_template="1" ] Lord Nick Herbert made history with his appointment because it was only the second appointment of its kind by a state. When he assumed office in 2021, he was tasked with a breadth of concerns, including leading efforts to champion Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender (LGBT+) equality in the United Kingdom and abroad, as well as addressing legislative reform, tackling violence and discrimination, and ensuring equal access to public services for LGBT+ people. Lord Herbert’s visit to Botswana forms part of a three-state deployment under his mandate. Having started in Namibia, Lord Herbert is to meet with stakeholders – from government players and civil society – in Botswana prior to heading to South Africa. “The existence of this office is a reflection of the importance that the UK government places on the lives of LGBTQ+ people in general,” he says, adding that the visit is an effort to share values that “LGBT+ rights are fundamental rights” and “learn where other countries are with their progress.” Through observation, Lord Herbert offers that the dualistic existence of worlds where rights are both acknowledged as inalienable for every person and where protections and access to these rights aren’t availed to all people is his point of departure in engaging state partners. Having served as a member of the House of Commons – the democratically elected house of the UK Parliament responsible for law-making – for 15 years, Lord Herbert sits in a privileged position to dialogue with legislators on affairs affecting this acknowledged minority. In November 2021, the Court of Appeal in Botswana upheld a ruling by the High Court to strike down sections of the penal code that criminalised consensual same-sex sexual activity. This visit marks an effort by the UK to work with its peers to realise what the Envoy reminds is “the finest act that a legislator can do”, which is pass laws that allow people to enjoy a dignified life. On the subject of health and civic rights, Lord Herbert expresses that “inequality and discrimination have practical impacts on people that are concerns beyond the individual level but to governments as well,” citing the productivity and economic repercussions effected by negligence of marginalised communities such as the LGBT+. Recent results from a census run in England and Wales revealed that over 1.3 million respondents in the two nations identified within the spectrum of Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual orientations. While such data doesn’t yet exist for a country like Botswana, it already caters for addressing health concerns of this demographic through various key population programming executed by organisations like the National AIDS & Health Promotion Agency (NAHPA) and the Botswana Network on Ethics, Law and HIV/AIDS (BONELA) as accommodated by the National Development Plan. Botswana, having recently joined the league of countries that do not criminalise homosexuality or transgender people, is primed to continue to set examples for upholding the rights of people experiencing marginality. Lord Herbert’s visit serves as an outstretched hand to lawmakers and civil society to show that the United Kingdom is ready and available to support actions towards undoing some of the harm stemming from legislation imposed through colonial endeavours. “The UK still has things to learn,” he offers as an illustration of the fact that “there is, in all of our countries, work to do”. It took activists in Botswana nearly two decades to reach a point where such a visit can be realised without need for clandestine orchestration. That this trip is executed with cooperation from the state is a sign to civil society players invested in the well-being and rights of LGBT+ persons in Botswana that the needle is moving forward. [/ihc-hide-content]

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UK Envoy on LGBT+ People Stands with Batswana

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