A/HRC/15/37/Add.2 77. The Government should strengthen and adopt new affirmative measures, consistent with universal human rights standards, to protect the rights of nondominant indigenous groups to retain and develop the various attributes of their distinctive cultural identities, particularly those related to land rights, approaches to development, and political and decision-making structures. All laws and Government programmes should be reviewed and reformed as needed to ensure that they do not discriminate against particular groups, but rather accommodate to and strengthen cultural diversity and adhere to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. 2. Development programmes 78. The 2009 Revised Remote Area Development Programme represents an important and positive policy shift in the approach to addressing economic and social disadvantage suffered by many non-dominant tribes in Botswana. In particular, stated Government intentions to enhance community participation in the development and implementation of the programme, to address land rights issues, and to engage in capacity-building at the local level are all significant and encouraging steps that represent a clear departure from the past policies of a uniform approach to development that in fact disadvantaged the intended beneficiaries of the programme. 79. In addition to promoting development focused around an agro-pastoralist way of life, development programmes such as the Remote Area Development Programme should promote, in consultation with the affected communities, economic and other development activities that align with the culture of the targeted communities, including hunting and gathering activities. 80. In the design and execution of development programmes, the special needs of indigenous women and children should be identified and given priority, and practices that discriminate against indigenous women should be targeted and eliminated. 3. Social services 81. The Government should incorporate, in consultation with the indigenous peoples, traditional medicinal practices in the provision of health-care services, through, inter alia, the education of health-care workers in traditional practices and beliefs as well as the recruitment and training of members of non-dominant tribes to serve in remote communities. 82. In the elaboration of the traditional health practice bill, the Government should expand its consultation process to include community members in order to incorporate into the legislation their respective needs and concerns. 83. The Government has begun taking important steps to comply with the recommendation of the National Commission on Education to incorporate instruction in mother-tongue language into the education system. This effort should be further promoted and strengthened, including through the allocation of resources to recruit and train native language speakers to serve in remote communities. 84. The Government should modify, in consultation with the affected indigenous peoples, its educational curriculum to better reflect the cultural diversity of Botswana, including the history, culture, identity and current situation of non-dominant tribes throughout the country. 85. While the hostel system has provided educational opportunities to residents of many underserved communities, the Government should pursue methods that do not require students to leave their homes and risk losing their cultural ties to their GE.10-13968 19

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