BOTSWANA: Children's Rights in the UN Special Procedures' Reports

Summary: This report extracts mentions of children's rights issues in the reports of the UN Special Procedures. This does not include reports of child specific Special Procedures, such as the Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, which are available as separate reports.

Please note that the language may have been edited in places for the purpose of clarity

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• Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous people
• Special Rapporteur on the right to education
• Requested visits

Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous people, James Anaya

(A/HRC/15/37/Add.2)

Country visit: 19–27 March 2009
Report published: 2 June 2010

• Areas of concern -
• Respect for cultural diversity:
• Regarding education, the Special Rapporteur commends the Government for its commitment to ensuring universal access to education and notes the aspects of the national school curriculum and educational planning that call for an awareness of diverse cultures. However, interviews with parents and educators at the community level, as well as with officials of the Ministry of Education in the capital, indicate insufficient funding for education programmes targeted at marginalized indigenous groups and a lack of genuine cultural sensitivity in the development, design and implementation of education programmes. Government officials were unable to articulate to the Special Rapporteur precisely how culturally adapted educational programming is being implemented. (para 36)
• Apparent, instead, is an unavailability of mother-tongue education; insufficient and inadequate incorporation of the history, culture and current conditions indigenous groups in schooling for the children of those groups; and a lack of trained teachers and school officials from non-dominant indigenous groups. In fact, in its 1994 Revised National Policy on Education, the National Commission on recommended mother-tongue instruction for children in pre-primary schools, but the Ministry of Education did not accept this recommendation, noting that the proposed policy was contrary to the national language policy. (para 37)
• Another concern is the hostelling system used to provide education in remote areas where teacher retention has been poor, which has resulted in the alienation of children from their culture and families. The Government has indicated that it is exploring various options aimed at attracting and retaining teachers in remote areas, which would minimize the need for the hostelling system. For example, in its revised Remote Area Development Programme, the Government expressed plans to encourage the construction and operation of two-teacher, multigrade schools in remote areas, a process already under way with regard to primary school education. Nevertheless, delivery of a culturally appropriate education system remains a challenge in Botswana. (para 39)

• Conclusions and recommendations:
• 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. (para 80)
• 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 communities, such as establishing two-teacher schools in remote areas and providing transportation to and from schools. (para 85)

Special Rapporteur on the right to education, Vernor Muñoz

(E/CN.4/2006/45/Add.1)

Country visit: 26 September to 4 October 2005
Report published: 17 March 2006

• Introduction:
• The Special Rapporteur expresses his sincere appreciation to the Government for the cooperation extended to him throughout the course of his mission. In particular, he is grateful to the Minister of Education and staff at the Ministry of Education, with a special mention to the Department of Primary Education. He also extends his thanks to the United Nations offices in Botswana, especially those of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) [...]. (para 1)
• During his mission, the Special Rapporteur held consultations with a wide range of actors, including representatives of various ministries of the Government of Botswana, [...] primary and secondary school students and visually impaired students. (para 3)

• Historical and socio-economic context -
• History and development prospect:
• In 1966, the national budget was less than US$ 1.5 million, over 80 per cent of the population lived in rural areas, most of the country had no roads, electricity, safe drinking water or health facilities, far less than half of all children attended primary school, and very few went on to enrol in the six missionary secondary schools that existed. (para 7)

• The challenge of the HIV/AIDS pandemic:
• Since the first case was reported in the country in December 1985, the HIV/AIDS epidemic has progressed rapidly, affecting all levels of society. The effect of the pandemic has reversed previous health gains, resulting in increased mortality. Female mortality is very high between the ages of 18 to 34 while male mortality is very high from the mid-thirties and remains very high from then on. The increase in mortality has also reduced life expectancy at birth, and increased child mortality. (para 13)
• Many children are orphaned by HIV/AIDS. In 2000, there were about 78,000 children below the age of 15 who had lost one or both parents. Though 87 per cent of the orphans have one parent still alive, 34 per cent are entrusted to their grandparents and 11 per cent live with other relatives. Fifty-six per cent of orphan children live with heads of households who are not economically active. Many of the orphans leave school, either to work to help the family or take care of their siblings at home. (para 15)
• HIV/AIDS prevalence is also high among adolescents; in 2000 the estimated prevalence rate among the 15- to 19-year-olds was 27 per cent, with girls at greater risk of infection. Despite extensive public awareness and education campaigns, many young people still do not have adequate information on HIV/AIDS prevention to help them adopt a risk-free behaviour. About 90 per cent of the population does not know its HIV status even though counselling and testing facilities are available in various parts of the country. For 10- to 14-year-old children, the prevalence rate is 2 per cent. Prevailing socialization patterns disempower girls and make them more vulnerable to forced sex, early pregnancy and contracting HIV/AIDS. With a high primary school enrolment rate, schools provide a crucial forum in which to transmit information to help prevent further spread of the virus. (para 16)

• Cultural gender discrimination:
• However, women’s representation in decision-making positions, including political office, senior management in both the public and the private sector, and even in traditional male domains,13 has risen. The trend is more tangible in the public sphere. On a more private level, there is still need to address more difficult issues such as rape within marriage or the need for equal age of marriage for boys (16 years) and girls (14 years). Various interlocutors of the Special Rapporteur suggested that violence against women and girls - rape, incest, murder and passion/honour crimes - seem to be increasing.14 The issue of intergenerational sex and its negative impact on girls’ life was also often mentioned. Gender-based violence, together with early pregnancies, is a serious impediment not only to girls’ access to school, but to their successful completion of the curricula. The education system should tackle these issues in a more systematic manner. (para 19)
• Botswana has ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and the Convention on the Rights of the Child [...]The Women’s Affairs Department of the Ministry of Labour and Home Affairs is responsible for the implementation of the policies which should be reflected in education programmes working towards girls’ empowerment, as well as building a responsible masculinity, sensitive to the needs of both women and men.. (para 20)

• The Right to Education: Principles, Norms and Standards -
• International legal and policy framework:
• The Government of Botswana has ratified the [...] Convention on the Rights of the Child and its Optional Protocol on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography [...]. (para 21)
• In accordance with the relevant provisions of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, as interpreted in the general comments adopted by their treaty monitoring bodies, the right to education includes the right, inter alia, to non-discriminatory access to and availability of quality schools, services and infrastructures, appropriate, adequate and quality education provided to students and an education adapted to the social and cultural environment. Primary education should be compulsory and free. In short, the right to education can be understood as a right to the enjoyment of a variety of facilities, goods and services necessary for the realization of that right. A State party to the Covenant or the Convention has an obligation to ensure the realization of the right to education (for all or for children) to the maximum of its available resources. (para 23)
• In view of its ratification of international legal instruments such as the [...] Convention on the Rights of the Child, [...] the Government of Botswana has an obligation to respect, protect and fulfil the right to education for those within its jurisdiction. (para 24)

• Achievements and challenges in realizing the right to education - 
• School facilities:
• The Special Rapporteur visited Block 5 Primary School in Gaborone West, as well as the only school in the country which provides specific facilities for visually impaired children in the district of Kagtleng; he also visited two primary schools for remote area dwellers in the area of Artesia and Moduchi, and a primary and pre-primary as well as a secondary school in Mahalapaye. (para 35)
• All the schools visited globally responded to the same architectural and security norms and standards. All schools are boarding schools and provide for hostel facilities. Schools are usually built close to relatively important human settlements, thus leaving various parts of the country without school facilities. Hostels are therefore key to accommodate children living too far away from existing schools. The Special Rapporteur noted the difficulty for children as young as 6 years old to be separated from their families in order to attend school, though he acknowledges governmental efforts and investments in providing acceptable school and hostel facilities. The schools he visited provided for adequate and separate sanitation for boys and girls as well as for, at least, a meal per day. He was informed that, despite the efforts of the Government, there are still remote areas where adequate standards for acceptable learning are still not fully met by local schools or where classes are imparted in the open due to lack of classrooms. He would therefore encourage the Government to make all possible efforts to ensure that remote areas are provided with school facilities of the same standards as in the capital and other big cities. He would also encourage acceleration of a pilot programme initiated by the Government to create single multilevel classrooms in the most remote areas, in order for children to be able to attend school while remaining close to their families. A recently conducted survey identified 49 settlements that qualify for the programme. (para 36)
• The lower the pupil-teacher ratio, the greater the amount of time the teacher spends with each pupil and the greater the quality of the instruction. Official statistics mention a ratio of 27 to 1, which is below the 30 pupils per class target of the latest National Development Plan but is much higher than the statistics of 16 pupils per class in private schools. Although a ratio of 30 to 1 appears to be closer to reality, in some instances the number can exceed 40 pupils per class. (para 37)
• Assignment of teachers by the Ministry of Education, based on the needs of the schools and teaching service, can result in teachers from one area being placed in schools in other areas, in some cases interacting with children whose culture and mother tongue the teachers do not know. Mandatory assignment to remote areas can also lead to tension and resentment among teachers. (para 38)

• School accessibility:
• Since 1980, Botswana has provided free education at primary and secondary levels. (para 41)
• According to official and governmental sources, the reintroduction of school fees is justified by increasing public financial constraints. Botswana has invested a lot in education, which represents an average of 25 per cent of the national budget - with small variations depending on the years. (para 42)
• The authorities assured the Special Rapporteur that in implementing the measure, they will make sure that children whose parents cannot afford the fees will not have any obligation to pay nor will they be excluded from school. Some of the teachers and individuals met by the Special Rapporteur argued that the reintroduction of fees would have minimal financial incidence on households as it only represents 5 per cent of the total cost of education and would be a way of involving parents in the school life, getting them more implicated in the education of their children and valuing education more. (para 43)
• The Special Rapporteur considers that the absence of a rights-based approach to education might have contributed to the adoption of the decision. Education is considered a service provided by the Government and not a human right of the people living under its jurisdiction, and is not compulsory. Future financial constraints could thus result in increased participation of parents in the financing of their children’s education. The reintroduction of fees, coupled with the absence of the legal obligation providing for compulsory education might have disastrous effects on enrolment rates at secondary level and the already increasing dropout rate registered at that level. (para 45)
• The country has many small human settlements, which make it extremely difficult, some would say impossible, for the Government to provide schools in each and every settlement. [...] The Government has thus invested in schools with hostels that would accommodate all the pupils who live far away from the school. In building the schools, the Government has intended to reduce, on average, the distance to school to 5 kilometres for primary schools and to 10 kilometres for secondary schools. (para 48)
• Despite these efforts, in numerous instances children have to walk longer distances while most education professionals are not satisfied by the “5/10 kilometres policy”. They consider 5 kilometres an unacceptably long distance for children aged 6 to 10, and 10 kilometres also unacceptable for older children. Those distances oblige children to wake up before dawn to reach school on time, and the particular vulnerability of girls facing lengthy walks in the dark was also highlighted. Some schools have made efforts to ensure that breakfast is offered to their pupils. (para 49)
• The Government also provides for the transportation of children residing in hostels, from school to their villages for official holidays. But, although buses are made available, they do not cover the whole country and do not respond to all the needs and in many instances, trucks are used to transport children at clear risk to their safety. The Special Rapporteur requested the authorities to take all necessary measures to ensure appropriate and safe transportation for pupils. (para 50)
• Significant differences can also be found in respect of gender-specific vulnerabilities that are linked to schooling. For instance, one of the main reasons girls drop out of schools is pregnancy, the incidence of which among teenage students is high. Government policy encourages girls to return to school if they had left due to pregnancy. Government policy encourages girls to return to school if they had left due to pregnancy. The Special Rapporteur had the opportunity to visit the Diphalana project centre. This project is linked to a secondary school in Mahalapaye and offers a day-care centre for babies thus allowing their adolescent mothers to re-enrol in school and continue their education. The project is a governmental initiative supported by UNICEF and it also provides for training of adolescent mothers on their role and extends to pregnant girls. The project also intends to train the fathers on their role and responsibilities. The project has proven so effective at reducing the number of teenage pregnancies, that it must now redefine its mission. (para 52)
• Pregnancies due to intergenerational sex were also mentioned as a major, and worrying, cause of girls’ pregnancies. In some instances, the teachers themselves could be involved. The Special Rapporteur received conflicting information as to the extent of the phenomenon, with personnel working on projects for teenage mothers noting the pregnancies result from same-generation sex, though noting that girls are often involved in sexual relations that may not be fully consensual. (para 53)
• The “sugar daddy” phenomenon appears to be widespread among young women from low-income groups, who have sexual relations with older men - often for material gains and gifts such as mobile phones, clothes, car rides and hairstyles. (para 54)
• In addition to gender discrimination, and although Botswana has almost achieved universal primary education, there are other disparities in access to education, with some children never attending school at all. [...] Young girls who drop out are more likely to get pregnant at a younger age - if they are not already dropping out because of pregnancy - and more likely to be single parents than high school graduates. (para 55)
• Absenteeism among students is also a growing concern. Often children attend school irregularly. Besides part-time child labour or family responsibilities, the spread of HIV/AIDS has been an aggravating factor for that trend. As mentioned earlier in the present report, many children have lost at least one of their parents as a consequence of HIV. The particular vulnerability of such orphaned children is being tackled by the Government, which makes every effort to provide them with assistance by, inter alia, ensuring that any school-related costs will be borne by the authorities, and to ensure that those children will continue their studies rather than enter the labour market. The Special Rapporteur wishes to pay tribute to the social workers who are the indispensable link between the children, the teachers and the Government. (para 56)
• Based on the 2001 population and housing census, about 74 per cent of 5- to 19-year-olds attend school. Approximately 12 per cent of the 5- to 19-year-olds have left school, with a slightly higher level of girls’ drop out. However, about 12 per cent of children from 5 to 19 years have never attended school, and a slight majority of those are boys. A global survey would almost certainly show that the majority of those who never attended school come from rural areas. The Government has made efforts to promote education for children of people the State has designated as “Remote Area Dwellers” (RADs), defined on the basis of their: spatial location (remote areas outside villages), socio-political status (marginalized) and socio-economic status (poor and subject to discrimination). (para 57)

• Content and quality of education:
• In 2001, an assessment of the effectiveness of learning at primary school suggested that learning is not effective at the early primary school level, which may reflect lack of preschool training. Only 39.6 per cent of primary level pupils were literate in Setswana, 21.9 per cent had reached the desired competency level in English and only 21.2 per cent had done so in basic numeracy. Learning achievement in life skills was, however, high at 77.7 per cent, though only 51 per cent of the pupils had attained the desired level of HIV/AIDS competence. (para 61)

• Content and quality of education - 
• Early childhood and preschool education:
• The Revised National Policy on Education (RNPE) and the Early Childhood Care and Education Policy (ECCEP) provide a framework aimed at raising the quality of education in the country. The Special Rapporteur notes that RNPE gives priority to enhancing quality educational inputs - school infrastructure and equipment, information communications technologies, trained teachers, lifelong learning and a strong curriculum that puts emphasis on science and technology. ECCEP, in turn, provides for expanded access to preschool education and an appropriate curriculum. (para 63)
• Preschool education is a key component of integrated early childhood development programmes. About 90 per cent of eligible children do not access preschool education, either because preschool facilities do not exist where they live or because their parents cannot afford the fees or choose not to enrol their children for preschool - sometimes because they do not see the value and utility of such education. Nearly all preschool education is provided by civil society organizations, including the private sector, and preschool remains hardly accessible to children from poor families and rural areas. (para 64)
• By using existing infrastructure and integrating three closely related areas, the Government hopes to reduce the costs and be in a position to provide for preschool facilities across the country. (para 65)
• Preschool is especially necessary for children from disadvantaged communities such as the Basarwa, who face steeper hurdles in adjusting to school life. The authorities are aware of the importance of preschool education as a condition of an improved quality of learning. (para 66)

• Towards stronger gender equality:
• The school curriculum and environment should help sustain progress towards gender equality. Gender equality has been achieved in access to education, and it seems dropout rates among girls and boys are similar, although the reasons are distinctly gender-driven - pregnancies and family responsibilities at home for girls, and work to help the family financially for boys. However, the education system still has to make progress towards more gender-neutral teaching and should help to combat remaining stereotypes. The challenge is, among others, to facilitate the entry of men and women in disciplines traditionally dominated by the other sex, for instance to entice more women into engineering studies and scientific occupations and more men into nursing careers. Another element would be to eliminate gender-specific constraints on learning. Girls should be relieved of household responsibilities beyond a proportional sharing of tasks in a family. (para 71)
• Creative ways have to be found to keep children (boys and girls) in school. According to Vision 2016, introducing universal and compulsory education while outlawing child labour would be the key. Criminalizing child labour could reduce the demand for child work and would encourage children to remain in schools, and their families to give support. (para 72)

• The impact of HIV/AIDS:
• The 2003 Sentinel Surveillance Report (NACA) 2003 figures suggest that young people are most affected by HIV/AIDS. HIV-prevalence among pregnant women aged 20 to 24 is 38.6 per cent; and 42.8 per cent among those aged 25 to 29 while prevalence for 15- to 19-year-olds is estimated at 22.8 per cent. Prevalence trends among the 15- to 19-year-olds in the 2004 Botswana AIDS Impact Survey (BAIS II) show that for every HIV-positive boy, there are three HIV-positive girls. Some cultural and historical beliefs regarding sexual practices and relations, like traditional puberty rites have undergone particular re-/misinterpretations in the context of HIV. A good example is the practice of go ithlatswa madi22 or older men having sex with virgin girls mistakenly believing they will be cleaned of all sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). This practice encourages intergenerational sex, facilitating rapid transmission of STDs and making it difficult to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS. Schools have a clear role to play in preventing and combating the spread of the virus, in particular by fighting against such myths and stereotypes. (para 73)

• Corporal punishment:
• The Special Rapporteur was surprised to note that the Revised National Policy on Education contains a full section on corporal punishment. His attention was drawn to this issue by various NGOs which advocate for the abolition of the practice. He was informed that physical punishment was a normal practice and considered a reasonable way to ensure discipline. In some instances, children were victims of severe abuse, especially those living in hostel facilities and not benefiting from the close presence and protection of their families. The Special Rapporteur regrets not having an opportunity to discuss corporal punishment with the authorities and hopes the issue will be discussed in follow-up to his visit, and resolved in accordance with international human rights standards, especially the provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, with a specific mention of its article 28, paragraph 2. The educational environment should be human rights sensitive and human rights driven. (para 74)

• Conclusions and Recommendations:
• The Special Rapporteur encourages the Government of Botswana to:
• Ensure that foreign and refugee children have the same access to education as nationals (para 76(i));
• Develop special projects and programmes for orphaned adolescents who are forced into work to support their families, ensuring their integration into school and the provision of support to their families (para 76(j));
• Elaborate and disseminate accessible versions of the chapter of the Education Act dealing with the rights of adolescents who are pregnant or raising children, as well as evaluate programmes of sex education and explore new approaches empowering adolescents to exercise responsibly their sexual and reproductive rights (para 76(k));
• Evaluate the educational achievement of the school for visually impaired children and establish additional institutions and mechanisms to ensure provision of education for children with disabilities and facilitate their access to secondary schools (para 76(n));
• Adopt legislation to abolish use of corporal punishment in schools [...]. (para 76(p))

Requested visits

• Independent Expert on water and sanitation (accepted)
• Independent Expert on access to safe drinking water and sanitation (requested in February 2010)
• Special Rapporteur on racism (requested on 09.07.12)
• SR on cultural rights (requested on 13 March 2013)