A/HRC/40/64 33. The Special Rapporteur was also told that difficulties in access to water and other basic services disproportionally affect settlements in which certain nomadic and minority communities live, including, in particular, the San and other Basarwa communities. He was informed that even in a major town such as Maun, with a concentration of Wayeyi and other minorities, the provision of water in the municipality was not always guaranteed. 34. Generally speaking, the use of languages other than English or Setswana is not provided for in the information or communication activities of the country. Even HIV/AIDS awareness-raising campaigns use only Tswana and English, although the Special Rapporteur was advised that the Government tries to liaise with local organizations for the effective dissemination of information. In terms of broadcasting on public television, the only exception would seem to be the 30 minutes of interpretation offered in sign language out of the 24-hour programme. 35. Although private printed media exist in Botswana, these only appear, and apparently are only allowed, in English and Setswana. Any prohibition of the use of other languages in private media, and this includes minority languages, would be contrary to fundamental human rights, such as freedom of expression. It was brought to the attention of the Special Rapporteur that, although private radio stations do exist, they are all based in Gaborone, and apparently no private radio station is allowed to broadcast any programme in any of the country’s minority languages. Broadcasting licences for locally based community radio stations have until now always been rejected, and in some cases this may have been partially motivated by the proposed use of minority languages in some of the programming. 36. While there is, since 1994, a recognition of sorts of sign language in Botswana with its introduction in the country’s revised education policy and a growing use of the language in schools, training programmes and as interpretation in the court system, many challenges remain. It was brought to the attention of the Special Rapporteur that there is a lack of qualified and professional interpreters, particularly in the health-care sector, and of outreach and health education programmes in sign language, which negatively affects the effective dissemination of information with regard to health prevention, and that even in schools for members of the deaf minority community most of the teachers are not trained in sign language or in teaching methods adapted to the educational needs of deaf persons. B. Communications 37. The Special Rapporteur sent letters of allegation and urgent action letters to the Member States concerned, based on information he had received from diverse sources about human rights violations perpetrated against national, ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities. Those communications and the responses thereto are publicly available. 3 38. A total of 51 communications have been sent to Governments since January 2018. All of those were sent jointly with other special procedure mandate holders. Of those, 11 were urgent appeals, 27 were letters of allegation, and 13 were other letters expressing concerns about legislation or policy. 39. The largest number of communications (21) were sent to States in the Asia-Pacific region, followed by Europe and Central Asia (19), the Middle East and North Africa and Africa (4 each). One communication was sent to a State in the Americas region, while two are not associated with a specific region. C. Conferences and awareness-raising activities 40. Raising awareness and the visibility of the human rights of minorities has been repeatedly highlighted as an important dimension of the Special Rapporteur’s mandate since his election in June 2017. This has, among others, taken the form of frequently speaking and contributing to numerous conferences seminars, and meetings, internationally, 3 8 www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/SP/Pages/CommunicationsreportsSP.aspx.