​World NGO Day is a day to celebrate, recognise, and honour the contributions of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to society. In commemoration of this important day, the Ghanzi Network of Civil Society (GNCS) organised an expo aimed at raising awareness about different organisational mandates, bringing services closer to the community, and fostering collaboration among civil society groups.
 
We were honoured to participate and set up a stall to further our community engagement with discussions on environmental education, human-wildlife coexistence, cheetah behaviour, coexistence strategies, and the importance of biodiversity conservation. Our Research, Communities for Conservation, Farming for Conservation, and Engagement and Awareness departments were all represented, offering visitors a holistic view of our work.
 
“Seeing the excitement from the students who visited out stall gave me so much hope that the future of cheetah conservation is alive,” said Tshepho Bakani, Farming for Conservation Officer.  Titus Thomba, Communities for Conservation Senior Officer - Conservation, reflected on the value of connection, stating: “When people get to talk to us face-to-face, they realise conservation is not something distant but rather something we are all a part of”. Beyond community outreach, the expo provided a platform for networking. CCB staff connected with fellow NGOs, learning about their programmes and identifying potential areas for collaboration in community outreach and education.
 
We would like to extend a huge thank you to everyone who visited our stall, and to GNCS for organising the event.

They say you can’t pour from an empty cup, but this year’s theme, Give to Gain, reminds us that pouring into each other is how we all overflow. Whether it’s mentoring a peer or supporting women-owned businesses, your "give" creates a collective "gain." Cheers to the women who lift as they climb.

Beyond the boardrooms and the glass ceilings lies a foundation built on care, compassion, and radical support. For too long, "soft" qualities like empathy were sidelined, but in 2026, we recognise them as the highest forms of currency. Compassion isn’t just a feeling - it’s a resource. When we offer it to the women around us, we create a psychological safety net that allows for bold risks and unprecedented growth.

However, as we celebrate, we must look towards the horizons where the light often fades.Women in remote areas - separated by geography, digital divides, or economic isolation - frequently fall into the cracks of global progress. For these women, "giving" isn't just about a kind word; it’s about access. When a woman in a rural village lacks the infrastructure to bring her goods to market or the digital tools to gain an education, the world loses out on her genius. We cannot claim a collective "gain" if we leave the most isolated behind.

​The solution isn't found in top-down mandates, but in strong, localised systems built through community collaboration. We build prosperity when grassroots organisations partner with global tech to provide connectivity, and when community cooperatives allow women to pool resources like childcare and transport, turning individual struggle into communal strength. When we collaborate, we stop being individual cups trying to stay full and instead become a system of interconnected reservoirs. By intentionally pouring into the outskirts and the overlooked, we ensure that the "gain" of International Women’s Day reaches every corner of the map.

For the farming communities that surround Botswana’s wildlife areas, the dry season is an annual test of skill and endurance. When grazing lands wane and water becomes scarce, the pressure to feed livestock intensifies. The same can be said for the wildlife that depends on natural resources to feed themselves; and when livestock are hungry, they are likely to roam further into areas that can bring them in shared spaces with wildlife.
 
To tackle the consequences of the dry season, the Farming for Conservation (FFC) team convened a workshop in the village of Samane to address this challenge head on. Working in close collaboration with the Jwaneng Department of Animal Production, we brought together close to 60 farmers from surrounding villages for a day of practical training focused on improving livestock feeding practices during the dry season. Together they worked through the challenges farmers face when grazing runs out.
 
The Department of Animal Production led a hands-on demonstration in feed mixing, showing how nutritious supplements can be made from readily available materials like grass and leaves. The real value-add was the expertise that came from the farmers themselves, who were actively engaged throughout. They shared their own methods and the various innovations that have worked on their land. The result was an open and collaborative environment where practical solutions emerged from the collective knowledge of those present.
 
The farmers left with a deeper understanding of livestock nutrition and skills they can apply on their own farms. They also developed a clearer awareness of how these feeding practices connect to wildlife conservation, as we strive to not only talk about promoting coexistence, but make every one of our stakeholders an active participant in achieving this vision.
 
We are grateful to the Department of Animal Production for their partnership and to every farmer who showed up, asked questions, and shared their experiences. It is this kind of collaboration that makes coexistence possible.

​Cheetah Conservation Botswana’s (CCB), Development Manager, Nidhi Ramsden and Human-Wildlife Coexistence Coordinator, Rethabile Setlalekgomo took the plight of communities in the western Kalahari of Botswana to the inaugural Parliamentary Roundtable on Human-Wildlife Coexistence in Botswana & Beyond. The event convened by the National Assembly of Botswana and the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA) was held from 19 – 21 January 2026 at Phakalane Golf Estate, bringing together parliamentarians including those from Botswana, other African countries, and the European Union. They were alongside government officials, civil society, and conservation experts to discuss lasting solutions for human-wildlife coexistence (HWC).
 
Bringing her department's active research to the diverse audience, Setlalekgomo participated in a panel discussion titled: ‘Voices from the field: Experiences from affected areas’, alongside representatives from the Botswana National Beef Producers Union, Kalahari Conservation Society, Botswana House of Chiefs, Botswana Wildlife Producers Association, and the Namibian Association of CBNRM Support Organisations.  This presented an opportunity to share insights from our horse patrol initiative being implemented in New Xade. This is a practical example of community-led conflict mitigation where herders in a selection of farmer syndicates collectively monitor livestock activity on horseback – from morning to late afternoon – all while conscious of the porous border between them and the Central Kalahari Game Reserve which carnivores like lions are known to breach. The herders are presently working with the HWC department to develop, critique and refine interventions that can be converted into different coexistence strategies.
 
Discussions throughout the roundtable reinforced that HWC is not a single-sector issue but a social, political, economic and environmental concern requiring cross-sectoral collaboration. Parliamentarians heard how conflicting government policies can exacerbate conflict and that sustainable solutions must involve sociologists and economists alongside conservationists.
 
The European peers shared their mitigation experiences with now-revitalised populations of carnivore species like wolves and brown bears, shedding light on the similarity of conflict challenges faced in Africa. These include top-down decision making, unequal distribution of conflict costs, and the inadequate use of local knowledge. However, analytical comparisons between countries like Namibia’s innovative offset system – which recognises that full compensation is implausible, and Kenya’s national enquiry that links conflict to poor land use policies allowed for robust geo-specific dialogue and solution-building.
 
In the context of Botswana, participants noted challenges including limited parliamentary autonomy, inactive committees, and insufficient cross-sectoral collaboration. A reiterated way forward remained working through dialogue and evidence-based decision-making understanding that human-wildlife coexistence is a shared responsibility.
 
22 years since our founding, we are grateful to still be a vocal participant in Botswana’s development for people, landscapes and wildlife. Thank you to organisers for hosting this important and instrumental roundtable. We are incredibly proud of CCB’s magnificent duo for doing an outstanding job representing us and sharing frontline insights from our coexistence work in the western Kalahari of Botswana.