A/HRC/31/59/Add.1 United Nations General Assembly Distr.: General 12 January 2016 Original: English Human Rights Council Thirty-first session Agenda item 3 Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development Report of the Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights on her visit to Botswana Note by the Secretariat The Secretariat has the honour to transmit to the Human Rights Council the report of the Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights, Farida Shaheed, on her visit to Botswana from 14 to 26 November 2014, at the invitation of the Government. The purpose of the visit was to identify, in a spirit of cooperation and constructive dialogue, good practices in, and possible obstacles to, the promotion and protection of cultural rights in Botswana. The Special Rapporteur addressed a number of key issues, in particular the rights of individuals and communities to participate in cultural life and to access, enjoy and have their cultural heritage recognized. The Special Rapporteur considered those matters with particular focus on government policies in the fields of culture, language, education, tourism and wildlife protection. Botswana must be commended for its great efforts and achievements in the area of development and poverty reduction, in particular through important safety nets for vulnerable populations across the country. Efforts to include and enable people to benefit from the development processes have been rolled out in parallel with policies geared towards nation-building. While the use of Setswana as the national language has largely succeeded in enabling citizens to communicate with each other, the time is right for a second phase of nation-building that reflects, builds on and celebrates the rich cultural diversity of the country. There is need for national dialogue at various levels and with all stakeholders on the way forward. From a cultural rights-based perspective, that implies equal recognition and acknowledgement of the various communities in the country and of the diverse ways in which people relate to their environment and natural resources, as well as their land. GE.16-00348(E) *1600348*