Art and Craft Market Days and Fairs. This is in line with the National Policy on
Culture of 2001.
Botswana strives to deliver on its economic, social and cultural development
mandate and has put in place the following:
a. The Destitute Programme which entails the assessment and registration of
people who are needy. These people are assisted with food, cash, and
clothing, shelter and funeral expenses upon their passing on. As at July 2014
the country had Thirty Two Thousand One Hundred and Twenty-Eighty
(32,128) registered destitute persons. There are Thirty Thousand Nine
Hundred and Twelve (30, 912) needy students and One Thousand Five
Hundred and Ten (1,510) needy children. The needy students are dependents
of destitute persons who are attending school, while the needy children are
those who are not of school going age. The decline is attributed to the
introduction of income generating projects under the poverty eradication
programme.
b. The Orphan Care Programme entails the provision of food to orphans on a
monthly basis, shelter where there is need, as well as school uniform and
private clothing. As at July 2014, Botswana had Thirty Five Thousand and
Seventy-Six (35,076) registered orphans.
c. Community Home Based Care is a programme meant to provide basic
amenities for people who suffer from terminal illnesses such as cancer,
HIV/AIDS, sugar diabetes and physical traumas and cannot do anything for
themselves due to poor health. As at July 2014, the country had One
Thousand Two Hundred and Twenty-One (1,221) registered Community
Home Based patients.
d. Botswana ratified the Convention on Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2010,
and became a member of the United Nations Educational Scientific and
Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) Harare Cluster. To implement the
provisions of this Convention, Botswana established an Intangible Cultural
Heritage Committee whose mandate is to ensure that cultural aspects are
listed as heritage sites and communities benefit from such listings
Since 2009, Botswana introduced youth development programmes aimed at
improving the livelihoods of young people. These programmes include the
following economic and social initiatives:
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