Communications Officer in Botswana

As a Communications Officer in the Resident Coordinator’s Office in Botswana, Nchidzi Smarts plays a pivotal role in helping give voice to the most vulnerable and giving visibility to the wide-ranging work of the UN country team. 

A key part of Nchidzi’s role is dedicated to highlighting the role of the UN in supporting the country in its progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In 2020, during the UN75 dialogues, he worked in partnership with the civil society organizations to engage over 5000 people through a series of national consultations and dialogues to speak about their aspirations for a better future by 2045. The results of these consultations helped inform the development of the new UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (2024-2028) and 2020 Common Country Analysis.

In the fight against COVID-19, Nchidzi, with the support from the UN country team communications officers, led the coordination on COVID-related public messaging, and supported the Government develop its own national communication strategy to address the public health and social-economic challenges of the pandemic. As part of these efforts, he initiated several successful communication and community engagement campaigns, including to promote COVID19 vaccination.