A/HRC/15/37/Add.2 20. Initially, the programme worked to combat poverty and promote development through the creation of “remote area settlements” and the relocation of remote area dwellers into these settlements in order to provide basic social services. The Special Rapporteur visited several of these settlements during his time in Botswana and addresses some of the issues associated with this initial development strategy in part IV (A) of the present report. 21. Over the past several years, the Government has evaluated and revised the Remote Area Development Programme, most recently in February 2009. According to the Government, the emphasis of the programme has shifted from the original resettlement and infrastructure development strategy to land distribution, employment opportunities, institution-building and leadership training. 22. The Special Rapporteur is pleased to find, among the goals of the revised programme, that the Government “shall adopt a community-led development approach which aims to promote participatory processes and community participation in issues affecting their own development”.4 Also noteworthy is that the new policy acknowledges the need for affirmative measures for the benefit of communities that have faced “intractable disadvantages, either for logistical reasons, or because of long standing historical prejudice and subjugation by the dominant groups”.5 Such measures will be adopted across a variety of sectors to improve access to education, health, employment and economic development opportunities, and to socio-political institutions. 23. To some extent, the Government appears to be addressing concerns regarding access to land. Specifically, the 2003 review of the Remote Area Development Programme acknowledged the lack of sufficient access to land in the remote area settlements, attributing this problem to the allocation of surrounding land for cattle posts, ranches and wildlife management areas. The review also pointed to a lack of understanding of the procedures for obtaining land through the land boards, which were created in 1968 to administer and hold in trust all tribal land in Botswana. 24. In its 2009 revision of the programme, the Government proposed important measures to address this problem, stating that remote area communities would be given priority by land boards for land near their settlements and that consideration should be given to buying back tracts of land near the settlements. The revised Remote Area Development Programme policy further suggests that the Tribal Land Act be amended to include affirmative action measures that allow preferential allocation of nearby land to poorer people living in remote settlements, and that the Act should reserve a quota of positions on land boards for people from remote settlements. 25. The revised policy also states that programme officers should be trained to assist people from remote areas in submitting land applications. The Government has highlighted a number of important steps already in place to promote understanding of the land distribution system and related application processes. These initiatives include the introduction of help desks at the various land boards; clearly posted policies, procedures, and standards for land grant applications; and a number of outreach measures to explain operations and address questions and concerns. IV. Areas of concern 26. Despite the noted positive developments, the Special Rapporteur heard persistent and consistent accounts of discontent from the Basarwa and Bakgalagadi communities he 4 5 8 Botswana, 2009 Revised Remote Area Development Programme, para. 2.3.1 (b). Ibid., para. 2.3.1 (d). GE.10-13968