Nothing for us without us
Strong, accountable, sustainable San-owned organisations are the structural precondition for durable reform. This programme supports the national voice and the local ecosystem of CBOs that together make community ownership real.
A reform responsive to the people it is for
Botswana has a long history of top-down interventions aimed at San populations. For this reform to break that pattern, San-owned organisations must lead its design and implementation. That requires two things in parallel: Government mechanisms for robust and ongoing consultation, and San organisations with the capacity to play that role at national and local levels.
Important foundations are already in place. The Inter-Ministerial Basarwa Committee conducted in-situ consultations across Ghanzi, Kweneng, Okavango, North West, Mahalapye and Serowe Districts in 2025 before fiscal constraints suspended further travel. San leaders met at the Dqae Qare national workshop in March 2026 and issued the Dqae Qare Declaration — identifying land rights, mother-tongue education and political recognition as highest priorities — and nominated Khwedom Council as their national body.
Three phases, two parallel streams
Complete the Inter-Ministerial Committee consultations
- Final consultations in Okavango, Ghanzi, Hukuntsi, Charleshill, Tsabong, Kweneng (Team A) and Tutume, Mahalapye, Serowe, Bobirwa (Team B)
- Drafting of the Committee's final report with action-plan recommendations
- Presentation to Government and completion of mandate by mid-2026
Khwedom Council restructuring
- All San language groups and geographies represented
- Clear accountability mechanisms back to San communities
- Revised strategy, plan and funding to deliver on the new national mandate
- Secretariat with requisite capacity to coordinate dialogues, thematic commissions and communications
360° participation: Government, partners, public
- Inter-ministerial coordination office (recommended in the Office of the President)
- Unified funding and reporting mechanism for core funders with annual partner workshops
- NGO advisory committee for non-San allies contributing to reform
- Public communications plan countering stigma and building support for Indigenous reform
San participation & FPIC
- Regular Khwedom Council organs: national Council twice per year, thematic commissions, and wider San leader convenings
- Khoena Programme Task Force as Indigenous counterpart guiding the flagship BETP programme focused on San peoples
- Communications outreach using community radio, social media and translation services to reach remote communities
- Direct dialogue with the Inter-Ministerial Committee and successor coordination structures
San CBO support programme
- Development and maintenance of a network of effectively governed San CBOs
- Outsourced legal, administrative and financial support services, enabling CBOs to focus on delivering core programmes
- Institutional support for women's organisations (San Women Botswana, Family Support Centre) to meet the 50% gender participation target
- Direct legal support for CBOs negotiating partnerships with NGOs, Government and private sector
- Filling the void left by the collapse of WIMSA and the Kuru Family of Organisations a decade ago
Consultation unlocks everything else
ILO 169 compliance
Ratification requires the full participation of Indigenous peoples and Free, Prior and Informed Consent as a prerequisite. Without a credible consultation architecture, Botswana cannot meet its international commitments.
Land reform at scale
Consultation identifies the most urgent areas for restitution beyond the CKGR — and builds the community organisations that will hold reformed land rights durably.
Education & health reform
With reform necessarily progressive, consultation shapes which mother-tongue languages to start with, which hostels to replace, and how alternatives should be structured to meet local needs.
Khoena Programme
The Task Force provides informed, consistent oversight of the flagship Government programme focused on Indigenous Peoples, integrating land, livelihoods, services and governance.