Alinah Kelo Segobye is a social development activist and archaeologist, with specialisms in social development and HIV/AIDS and the future of studying the past in Africa and African archaeology. [1] She is Dean of Human Sciences at the Namibia University of Science and Technology and an elected fellow of the African Academy of Sciences.
Segobye completed her undergraduate and MA studies at the University of Botswana, and graduated from the University of Cambridge with a PhD in Archaeology in 1994. [2]
Segobye worked as Deputy Executive Director at the Human Sciences Research Council of South Africa. She then worked at the University of Botswana before entering her current role as Dean of Human Sciences at the Namibia University of Science and Technology. [3] She was President of the PanAfrican Archaeological Association from 2005 to 2010. [4]
Segobye is an elected fellow of the African Academy of Sciences (2018) [5] and an honorary professor at the Thabo Mbeki African Leadership Institute (TMALI), University of South Africa. [6] She serves on the board of the African Comprehensive HIV/AIDS Partnerships (ACHAP). [7]
She was invited to address the second UNESCO Future Forum Africa in 2013. [1] She was a visiting scholar at the Bradford Rotary Peace Centre (2016). [5]
Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 per cent of its territory being the Kalahari Desert. It is bordered by South Africa to the south and southeast, Namibia to the west and north, and Zimbabwe to the northeast. It is connected by the Kazungula Bridge to Zambia, across the world's shortest border between two countries.
The economy of Botswana is currently one of the world's fastest growing economies, averaging about 5% per annum over the past decade. Growth in private sector employment averaged about 10% per annum during the first 30 years of the country's independence. After a period of stagnation at the turn of the 21st century, Botswana's economy registered strong levels of growth, with GDP growth exceeding 6-7% targets. Botswana has been praised by the African Development Bank for sustaining one of the world's longest economic booms. Economic growth since the late 1960s has been on par with some of Asia's largest economies. The government has consistently maintained budget surpluses and has extensive foreign-exchange reserves.
Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and east. Although it does not border Zimbabwe, less than 200 metres of the Botswanan right bank of the Zambezi River separates the two countries. Its capital and largest city is Windhoek.
HIV/AIDS originated in Africa during the early 20th century and has been a major public health concern and cause of death in many African countries. AIDS rates varies significantly between countries, though the majority of cases are concentrated in Southern Africa. Although the continent is home to about 15.2 percent of the world's population, more than two-thirds of the total population infected worldwide – some 35 million people – were Africans, of whom 15 million have already died. Eastern and Southern Africa alone accounted for an estimate of 60 percent of all people living with HIV and 70 percent of all AIDS deaths in 2011. The countries of Eastern and Southern Africa are most affected, AIDS has raised death rates and lowered life expectancy among adults between the ages of 20 and 49 by about twenty years. Furthermore, the life expectancy in many parts of Africa is declining, largely as a result of the HIV/AIDS epidemic with life-expectancy in some countries reaching as low as thirty-nine years.
Festus Gontebanye Mogae is a Botswana politician and economist who served as the third President of Botswana from 1998 to 2008. He succeeded Quett Masire as President in 1998 and was re-elected in October 2004; after ten years in office. He stepped down in 2008 and was succeeded by Lieutenant General Seretse Khama Ian Khama.
The United States President's Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) is a United States governmental initiative to address the global HIV/AIDS epidemic and help save the lives of those suffering from the disease. Launched by U.S. President George W. Bush in 2003, as of May 2020, PEPFAR has provided about $90 billion in cumulative funding for HIV/AIDS treatment, prevention, and research since its inception, making it the largest global health program focused on a single disease in history until the COVID-19 pandemic. PEPFAR is implemented by a combination of U.S. government agencies in over 50 countries and overseen by the Global AIDS Coordinator at the United States Department of State. As of 2023, PEPFAR has saved over 25 million lives, primarily in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Mpule Keneilwe Kwelagobe is a Motswana investor, businesswoman, model, and beauty queen who was crowned Miss Universe 1999. She was the first black African woman to win one of the Big Four international beauty pageants, the first woman from Botswana to win, and the first from a nation making their debut in nearly four decades. Kwelagobe had previously been crowned Miss Botswana 1997 and Miss Universe Botswana 1999, and competed in Miss World 1997.
Education in Botswana is provided by public schools and private schools. Education in Botswana is governed by the Ministries of Basic Education. and Tertiary, Research Science and Technology Among sub-Saharan African countries, Botswana has one of the highest literacy rates. According to The World Factbook - Central Intelligence Agency as of 2015, 88.5% of the population age 15 and over can read and write in Botswana were respectively literate.
Professor Sheila Dinotshe Tlou is a Botswana nurse, specialist in HIV/AIDS and women's health, and a nursing educator. She was Minister of Health from 2004 to 2008. Professor Tlou is a distinguished advocate for human resources for health issues. She is a recognized visionary leader and champion.
The Mo Ibrahim Foundation is an African foundation founded by Sudanese-British businessman and philanthropist, Mo Ibrahim. Headquartered in London and Dakar, the Foundation was established in 2006 as a non-grant making organisation. It works to strengthen sound governance and leadership in Africa through its key initiatives:
Agnes Binagwaho is a Rwandan Politian, pediatrician and co-founder and the former vice chancellor of the University of Global Health Equity (2017-2022). In 1996, she returned to Rwanda where she provided clinical care in the public sector as well as held many positions including the position of Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Health of Rwanda from October 2008 until May 2011 and Minister of Health from May 2011 until July 2016. She has been a professor of global health delivery practice since 2016 and a professor of pediatrics since 2017 at the University of Global Health Equity. She resides in Kigali.
Quarraisha Abdool Karim is an infectious diseases epidemiologist and co-founder and Associate Scientific Director of CAPRISA. She is a Professor in Clinical Epidemiology, Columbia University, New York and Pro-Vice Chancellor for African Health, University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.
Science and technology in Botswana examines recent trends and developments in science, technology and innovation policy in this country. The Republic of Botswana was one of the first countries of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to adopt a science and technology policy in 1998. This was later updated in 2011.
Dawn Cavanagh is a South African activist, writer, and feminist that helped found feminist initiatives such as the Forum for the Empowerment of Women, and Coalition of African Lesbians in 2004.
Bagele Chilisa is a Botswanan post-colonial scholar who has written and spoken extensively about indigenous research and evaluation methodologies. She is a full professor at the University of Botswana, where she teaches courses on social science research methods and evaluation research to undergraduate and graduate students. Chilisa has served as an evaluator on multiple global projects, and is considered to be an important "African thought leader." Chilisa identifies as a member of the Bantu people of Africa.
Women in Namibia face challenges in their health, gender based violence, and access to education. The government of Namibia is taking steps to provide women with equal rights to a degree that is largely unparalleled in Sub-Saharan Africa, including the promise of gender equality and increased parliament representation in the Namibian constitution. Women currently serve in nearly half of all seats in parliament and the first female Prime Minister was elected in 2015.
Kgomotso Hildegard Moahi, is an academic and academic administrator in Botswana, who serves as a full professor and deputy vice chancellor – student services at the Botswana Open University. She has previously served in the Department of Library and Information Studies, at the University of Botswana, the country's largest public university as the chair of the department of information studies, dean of the Faculty of Humanities and as member of the Council of the University of Botswana. For a period of nine months in 2017, Moahi served as the acting vice chancellor of the university.
SethembisoPromise Mthembu is a South African human rights activist and researcher, best known for her work on HIV/AIDS and women's rights. One of the first women in South Africa to publicly share that she was living with HIV, Mthembu is a founder of the Gugu Dlamini Action Group, the Young Woman's Dialogue, and the Her Rights Initiative.
The PanAfrican Archaeological Association (PAA) is a pan-African professional organisation for archaeologists, geologists and palaeoanthropologists.