measures to strengthen the economy and even more importantly, diversifying it away from its dependency on diamonds. Without accelerated economic growth, it will remain difficult for Botswana to create jobs, especially those that contribute to increased productivity, poverty reduction and the attainment of equitable social development. The government’s policy and planning frameworks clearly consider economic diversification as a crucial step towards promoting employment and economic development. It is important to recognize, however, that diamond mining, although the main contributor to national wealth, accounts for only 3% of total employment in the formal sector. Manufacturing, on the other hand, accounts for approximately 4.2% of the GDP but employs about 10% of the labour force in the formal sector. A critical analysis indicates that a major impediment to achieving national development goals is the shortage of skilled labour at all levels and across sectors. Many of the unemployed are relatively young with low levels of education, work experience and have limited skills. The youth unemployment rate in 2010 was about 40% for the 15-19 age cohort and 34% for the 20-24 age cohort compared with the national average of 17.8%57. A mismatch between job opportunities and skills of graduates contributes significantly to these high rates of youth unemployment. Poverty eradication is addressed in the National Strategic Vision (2016) with the medium-term goal of reducing the incidence of absolute poverty by 2016. One of the pillars of the Vision calls for a “more equitable income distribution and the eradication of absolute poverty in Botswana.” The country’s outstanding achievements and gains in socio-economic development have, however, over the last three decades, suffered a major setback due to the devastating human and social impact of HIV and AIDS pandemic. The direct costs of HIV and AIDS prevention, treatment, care and support are accompanied by an indirect loss to the economy especially in terms of professional, skilled and experienced human resources, thereby significantly reducing productivity and the rate of economic growth. There was an estimated 300,000 adults living with HIV in 2011 out of an estimated population of 2.1 million. In 1999, the then President of Botswana led the national response to the epidemic with the setting up of the National AIDS Coordinating Agency (NACA) and the implementation of the National Strategic frameworks (NSF) for HIV and AIDS. This development yielded positive results. Life expectancy rose from 49 years to 53 57 See Statistics Botswana 2011. 79 | P a g e