• UB Hosts Workshop on Admission Requirements for Northwest Teachers
• Teachers Urged to Uphold Discipline
• Vice Chancellor Warns New Students Against Absconding
• Dr Mokgokong Advocates Gender Equality in Business

• 2009 Gaborone Campus Master Plan
• UB Newsletter February 2010
• UB Newsletter January 2010
• UB Newsletter March 2010
• UB Newsletter May 2010

Two UB Researchers participate at GRIP 2010

Two University of Botswana researchers, Ms Keitseng Nkah Monyatsi from the Centre for Scientific Research Indigenous Knowledge and Innovation (CESRIKI), and Dr. Alphonsus Neba of Office of Research and Development represented Botswana at the International Development Training Programme in Genetic Resources and Intellectual Property (GRIP 2010) held on May 2010 in Sweden.

The first phase of the programme ran for three weeks in Malmö, Sweden with five days of training held in Uppsala and Stockholm, and attracted 23 participants from various countries in Africa, Asia and South America. Resource persons were renowned experts in various fields that relate to genetic resources and intellectual property drawn from various organizations including international organizations, the Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants, and the academia.
Objectives of the programme were to assist participants to understand the multilateral and bilateral background and implications of the recent developments related to intellectual property rights (IPRs), Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) and exchange of natural resources and related information; to enable participants to find, use and draw conclusions from sources of information and expertise world-wide, related to IPRs and exchange of genetic  resources; to enhance participants’ managerial efficiency to handle, address and deal with genetic resources and IPRs issues. The programme also facilitated participants’ understanding on how to develop appropriate IPR instruments for beneficial partnerships between various actors in regional and international settings; to improve participants’ ability to catalyse the development of IPRs policies and corresponding implementation frameworks on genetic resources at national and institutional level.
“The subject of the programme was genetic resources and intellectual property. In addressing the subject, topics covered various issues such as indigenous knowledge systems, plant breeding, patent issues on biological resources, genetically modified organisms (GMOs), management and commercialisation of research outputs. In the process, international instruments and discussions relating to the topics were discussed and how these influence the national, regional and international landscape on development and commercialisation of genetic resources. These included the Convention on Biological Diversity, the discussions of the WIPO Inter-governmental Committee on Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore, UPOV international instrument for the protection of plant varieties,” reads the joint report from participants.

During the training, knowledge was also imparted about various agreements that are necessary to put in place when researching on genetic resources including material transfer agreements, licensing agreements, confidentiality agreements as well as necessary intellectual property institutional policies and how they should be managed. Conflict management was addressed in a very practical way, through which negotiation exercises were carried out involving all participants, according to the two participants. The training programme addressed the background on genetic resources and IPR regimes; global conventions; Institutional and national IP policy and management issues, developing functional national and institutional policies and frameworks.

GRIP 2010 brought in 15 resource persons from various organisations such as the WIPO, UPOV, Uppsala University, Greenpeace and many other organisations from within Europe and the United States of America. These are professionals who are highly knowledgeable on issues of genetic resources, intellectual property and global trends on the subjects.

The second phase of the programme will be held in November in one of the participating countries where every participants will be required to present his or her research. Dr Neba will report on the development of institutional guidelines for the management of research on Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) at the University of Botswana while Ms Monyatsi’s report will be about Developing a Framework for Access and Benefit Sharing For Centre for Scientific Research Indigenous Knowledge and Innovation (CESRIKI).

The two researchers indicated in their report that the programme has increased their knowledge on the relationship between genetic resources and intellectual property issues. Other lessons learned include ongoing International debates on IKS and IPRs, and the need to have IP policies at research institutions and to manage these to contribute towards innovation and commercialisation of research outputs. They also observed that countries need to have their IP strategies in place so that legislation enacted could enable them to push their agendas forward. The two researchers have also established contacts with various experts who can contribute to various initiatives in the subject matter in the future.