D. INTRODUCTION This report is submitted pursuant to Article 62 of the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights (hereinafter referred to as the Charter) which requires each State Party to submit a report every two (2) years on legislative or other measures taken with a view of giving effect to the rights and freedoms recognised and guaranteed by the Charter. This report is a combination of Botswana’s second and third periodic reports and provides updates on the implementation of the Charter since the last report up to 2015. It indicates areas of success as well as challenges faced. The report further addresses the critical issues that were raised by the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (hereafter referred to as the African Commission) on the last report. The Government of Botswana acknowledges and regrets the late submission of the report. In this regard, the Government of Botswana wishes to assure the African Commission that steps have been taken to deal with the delay and that the next report will be submitted on time to ensure a continuous interaction between Botswana and the African Commission. Botswana is committed to advancing human rights in the country and will continue to work towards the implementation of the Charter. E. METHODOLOGY AND CONSULTATION PROCESS This report was prepared by the Drafting Team of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Treaties, Conventions and Protocols with input from Government Ministries and Members of the Civil Society. Botswana received financial support from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) towards the production of this Report. A Draft Report was prepared and shared with Government Stakeholders as well as Non-Governmental Organisations (NGO’s) for their contribution. (See Annex 1) The Government held its stakeholder consultations on the 23rd and 25th September, 2014. On the 19th May 2015, a workshop dedicated to the consideration of the draft report was convened, bringing together Government stakeholders, civil society and NGO’s who made their inputs towards the consolidated text. 9|Page