“Institution Building – the main theme of the two first years of BIDPA’s existence – has faded. The institute is now up to full planned strength and now occupy the entire space available on the fourth floor of Tshomarelo house. Research and capacity building has been strengthened over the year, with a large number of new projects. An important achievement was the winning of a joint international tender with IDS Sussex for a study of the effects on the BLNS of the Free Trade Area now under negotiation between South Africa and the European Union. The participation in the preparation of the first ever Botswana Human Development Report was a tremendously rewarding experience. A main feature of BIDPA’s capacity building is the sponsorship of Masters and Doctorate programmes. During 1998/99 year efforts will be increased in this area and BIDPA will have 5 Assistant Research Fellows studying for their Masters degrees.”
