PRESS STATEMENT ON HUMAN RIGHTS WEEK DECEMBER 2008

60th Anniversary of The Universal Declaration of Human Rights –  does it make a difference?

The Botswana Civil Society Solidarity Coalition for Zimbabwe (BOCISCOZ) joins with the rest of the world in recognising the 60th anniversary of The Universal Declaration of Human Rights on 10 December 2008. Faced with the continuing crisis in Zimbabwe, BOCISCOZ has chosen to focus attention on the rights and responsibilities of those affected by the situation.

During Human Rights Week between 8 and 11 December 2008, BOCISCOZ shall be hosting a photographic exhibition and staging a play – both of these are about Zimbabwe and how the situation has been affecting Zimbabweans and Batswana. Human Rights week will be officially launched by Dr Barbara Reynolds, The UNICEF Representative in Botswana, at the Trinity Church Hall on Monday 8 December 2008 at 6.00 p.m.

The photographic exhibition displays photos of human rights activists from Zimbabwe, the rights of  whom have been directly violated while they  work to protect and promote the human rights of ordinary people in Zimbabwe.  The photographic display will be open to the public at the Trinity Church Hall from Monday 8 December 2008 to Thursday 11 December 2008, between 11 a.m. and 7.00 p.m.

The People’s Voice (Our Song), a play about the experiences of Batswana and Zimbabweans living in Botswana is to be staged for free on Monday 8 December at The Gaborone Bus Station at 5 p.m; on Tuesday 9 December at The Main Mall at 1 p.m. and at Maitisong on Wednesday 10 December at 7.00 p.m.

The play called The People’s Voice (Our Song) is a sequel to the play Our Song which was staged in Gaborone in 2007 by BOCISCOZ. The cast comprises actors from both Zimbabwe and Botswana. They carried out community research to understand the reality of those whom they show on the stage. The main aim of the play is to encourage our governments in the SADC region to show responsible and accountable leadership to the citizens of the region. Without decisive action, the crisis in Zimbabwe will continue to negatively affect the entire region through the massive displacement of Zimbabweans into the region. Serious consequences have begun to be experienced in 2008, in the form of the recent ‘xenophobia’ related attacks in South Africa as well as the cholera outbreak in Zimbabwe, which poses a serious challenge to the health systems within the region.

25 November 2008
Gaborone