INDEPENDENCE YEARS
By: VERONICA DE KLERKWHEN Namibia gained its well-earned Independence in 1990, one of the most prominent social problems in the society was poverty among the majority of people at grassroots level.
At the time, and like elsewhere in the world, poverty in Namibia
was fuelled by unemployment, large families and a high degree of
illiteracy or semi-literacy.
These characteristics of the Namibian society presented
themselves most starkly among the rural poor and in particular
among rural women.
The yearning of the poor that the Independence of the country
and the shedding of the yoke of an oppressive colonial past would
bring wealth or at least a little more prosperity to them, still
remain an unfulfilled dream.
These are, of course, the well-known ingredients for profound
disappointment, disillusionment and destitution, which in turn,
easily become the breeding ground of crime, corruption, violence
and conflicts within the family circle.
The establishment of Women's Action for Development (WAD) should
be seen against this background, especially for rural women who
count among the most deprived, socially and financially.
WAD emerged on the Namibian scene during 1994 with a strong
sense of purpose to develop rural women to their fullest potential,
through its main sponsor, the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung.
The organisation's Mission was clear - If the citizens of
Namibia needed to improve their living standards which would
culminate in running for public office to get into positions of
power, they should be developed not only in the socio-economic
field but in the socio-political field to improve their living
standards! WAD then started to establish training centres, managed
by full time mobile staff in the regions of Omusati, Omaheke,
Kunene, Erongo, Otjozondjupa and Hardap and promoted the concept of
developing women and men to their fullest potential to provide them
with skills, through training, with the view to assist them to
start their own small businesses and to lead them to
self-reliance.
Kick-start materials and machinery were provided to start small
projects.
Savings Clubs were introduced and members were trained to save
and to use part of their profits to keep the projects
self-sustainable and to inculcate a true sense of security.
All this was done while being mindful of the fact that a
handouts-mentality should at all costs be discouraged among the
members of the organisation.
This contributed greatly to the alleviation of poverty through
own effort and the rediscovery of own ingenuity, the provision of
jobs in the regions, the restoration of human dignity, self-pride,
self-confidence among the rural poor and thus, the building of
peace and the prevention of conflict within the family circle and
crime.
Through these initiatives a number of objectives were achieved:
- Women started using their talents for the establishment of
income-generating projects; - Women were given an opportunity to
demonstrate their own creativeness, ability to work hard and
tenacity, in the face of adversity; - Women re-discovered their
self-worth which in turn, fostered self-pride, self-confidence and
human dignity; - Women started contributing to the income of their
households which improved their food security and living
standards.
But above all, men started to join women's projects, which in
turn, had the positive spin-off that men were not that eager any
more to leave their families to find jobs in the urban centres as
before.
This, of course, contributed to stronger and happier family ties
in the regions while urbanisation was slowed in the process.
Needless to say, the successes with the establishment of
income-generating projects, greatly boosted the realisation among
Namibia's rural poor, that the alleviation of poverty lies within
the ambit of their own ingenuity and efforts and not, in the first
instance, in continuously opting for handouts.
WAD however, soon realised that the economic empowerment should
go hand-in-hand with the second step, namely the socio-political
empowerment of women.
This would contribute to women becoming a meaningful role-player
in decision-making at all levels of government, thus enhancing the
total empowerment of rural women.
This gave rise to communities nominating the most assertive,
boldest and most outspoken community members who were subsequently
inaugurated as Regional Women's Voice members and served as the
Official Mouthpiece of their respective regions.
The chairpersons of the Regional Women's Voices, in turn formed
the National Women's Voice which was inaugurated by Prime Minister
Theo-Ben Gurirab during 2002.
They were further trained in advocacy and lobbying skills,
assertiveness, etc, besides receiving training in the various
structures of government, from the Village level, right up to the
National level.
This significant training had the positive spin-off that Women's
Voice members started to take up positions in various development
committees within the Regional and Local Councils and to identify,
address and solve community problems as a united force on their own
and it inculcated an awareness of their great significance as
voters (the realisation of: "We can put decision-makers into power,
but we could also replace them").
Consequently, Women's Voice members started to lobby decision
makers on - *Health and Education-related issues; * Job creation
for the communities they represent; * A mortuary; an ambulance;
full-time nurses and doctors; * The female condom, "Femidoms" to
effectively protect them from the contraction of HIV-AIDS; *
Sewerage problems in villages; * A cleaner water canal from where
communities collect their drinking water; * More vocational
training centres in the regions, etc.
* They are also lobbying Traditional Authorities to drop harmful
cultural practices that curb women's development; and * They are
encouraging strong and talented women to run for public office to
get into powerful positions of decision-making.
The successes in this regard are quite phenomenal and
encouraging and have contributed towards giving poor communities
back their dignity.
Other initiatives were the training of community members in
becoming - Para-legals; Violence and HIV-AIDS Counsellors; First
Aid instructors, and the production of paper bricks to complement
household fuel and to curb deforestation.
Projects which were extremely encouraging were, among others: *
The production and marketing of linen shopping bags, which have
reached the 120 000 mark and have put money in the hands of mothers
on a daily basis to feed and clothe their families; * Over 1 000
computer students were trained at the WAD Hardap Centre at Rehoboth
over a period of 3 years and 60% are already in job placements; *
780 students were trained at the same centre over a period of 2
years and at least 50% have either improved their chances of
finding jobs, or are self-employed through projects; * Numerous
other projects have been established across the country and have
reached self-sustainability.
Although the successes of projects outweigh the constraints,
some problems were experienced in the area of, among others: * The
lack of self-confidence, assertiveness and human dignity; * Rather
opting for handouts and laziness; * Strong project members
dominating weaker ones and attempts to hijack projects as their
own; * Having difficulty in accepting the concept of being
self-employed given our culture of working as employees for
decades.
As a legacy of our colonial past, many Namibians suffer from an
"import syndrome".
Goods such as cheese, butter, chicken, fruit, vegetables, fish
nets, fish rope, bait, bed and table linen, to name but a few, are
freely imported instead of positioning ourselves to train the
unemployed to produce such products.
In the process, many jobs are lost for unemployed Namibians,
because women who can produce similar products to the imported
ones, simply cannot do it at similar prices as chain stores, since
they sell hand-made articles and not by way of mass production.
Government Ministries and the Private Sector can contribute
largely towards creating jobs for local women if they would resist
the temptation of importing various articles such as school
uniforms, nurses uniforms, bed linen and curtaining for rest camps,
hospitals, hotels, etc.
Many other examples can be cited of articles which can be
locally produced, but which are simply imported from outside our
borders.
I therefore, wish to respectfully caution, that if this tendency
continues, Namibia will never realise the excellent intentions of
Vision 2030 to make Namibia an industrialised nation! It is quite
clear that we in Namibia, will have to undergo a mind shift which
will enhance the growth of a local manufacturing industry.
We should also realise that although we may initially be
forfeiting the quality and easy availability of articles which we
are importing at present, it will be to the lasting benefit of the
nation in the long run.
On a different front - gender equality has been moving at a
snails pace in Namibia, which serves as a particular challenge for
the incoming government to improve the situation.
In the National Assembly women's representating decreased from
26,4% to 25% and on Regional level women represent 11% of the
positions.
The encouraging progress towards gender equality on the Local
level of 43,3% is largely due to an Affirmative Action provision in
the Local Authorities Act, which compelled political parties to
place a certain minimum number of women on their candidates
lists.
Since Namibia now stands embarrassed for not honouring the SADC
Declaration on "Gender and Development of 1997", which was signed
by the SADC Heads of State to realise the 30% mark for female
representation in its Parliaments and decision-making bodies by the
year 2005, the challenge will be for the incoming President and his
And as we come to the end of an era where the founding President is
about to retire after 15 years, I acknowledge that a source of
great hope to the organisation was the positive stance of the
Namibian Government and in particular, our Head of State, with
regard to the promotion of women.
Women can now only hope that the President Elect, Hon.
Pohamba, will demonstrate the same pro-women sentiments which
will enhance gender equality in Namibia because there can be no
talk of true democracy in the country without the equal
representation of women in the Namibian society.
* Veronica De Klerk is the Executive Director of WAD
These characteristics of the Namibian society presented themselves
most starkly among the rural poor and in particular among rural
women.The yearning of the poor that the Independence of the country
and the shedding of the yoke of an oppressive colonial past would
bring wealth or at least a little more prosperity to them, still
remain an unfulfilled dream.These are, of course, the well-known
ingredients for profound disappointment, disillusionment and
destitution, which in turn, easily become the breeding ground of
crime, corruption, violence and conflicts within the family
circle.The establishment of Women's Action for Development (WAD)
should be seen against this background, especially for rural women
who count among the most deprived, socially and financially.WAD
emerged on the Namibian scene during 1994 with a strong sense of
purpose to develop rural women to their fullest potential, through
its main sponsor, the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung.The organisation's
Mission was clear - If the citizens of Namibia needed to improve
their living standards which would culminate in running for public
office to get into positions of power, they should be developed not
only in the socio-economic field but in the socio-political field
to improve their living standards! WAD then started to establish
training centres, managed by full time mobile staff in the regions
of Omusati, Omaheke, Kunene, Erongo, Otjozondjupa and Hardap and
promoted the concept of developing women and men to their fullest
potential to provide them with skills, through training, with the
view to assist them to start their own small businesses and to lead
them to self-reliance.Kick-start materials and machinery were
provided to start small projects.Savings Clubs were introduced and
members were trained to save and to use part of their profits to
keep the projects self-sustainable and to inculcate a true sense of
security. All this was done while being mindful of the fact that a
handouts-mentality should at all costs be discouraged among the
members of the organisation.This contributed greatly to the
alleviation of poverty through own effort and the rediscovery of
own ingenuity, the provision of jobs in the regions, the
restoration of human dignity, self-pride, self-confidence among the
rural poor and thus, the building of peace and the prevention of
conflict within the family circle and crime.Through these
initiatives a number of objectives were achieved: - Women started
using their talents for the establishment of income-generating
projects; - Women were given an opportunity to demonstrate their
own creativeness, ability to work hard and tenacity, in the face of
adversity; - Women re-discovered their self-worth which in turn,
fostered self-pride, self-confidence and human dignity; - Women
started contributing to the income of their households which
improved their food security and living standards.But above all,
men started to join women's projects, which in turn, had the
positive spin-off that men were not that eager any more to leave
their families to find jobs in the urban centres as before.This, of
course, contributed to stronger and happier family ties in the
regions while urbanisation was slowed in the process.Needless to
say, the successes with the establishment of income-generating
projects, greatly boosted the realisation among Namibia's rural
poor, that the alleviation of poverty lies within the ambit of
their own ingenuity and efforts and not, in the first instance, in
continuously opting for handouts.WAD however, soon realised that
the economic empowerment should go hand-in-hand with the second
step, namely the socio-political empowerment of women.This would
contribute to women becoming a meaningful role-player in
decision-making at all levels of government, thus enhancing the
total empowerment of rural women.This gave rise to communities
nominating the most assertive, boldest and most outspoken community
members who were subsequently inaugurated as Regional Women's Voice
members and served as the Official Mouthpiece of their respective
regions. The chairpersons of the Regional Women's Voices, in turn
formed the National Women's Voice which was inaugurated by Prime
Minister Theo-Ben Gurirab during 2002.They were further trained in
advocacy and lobbying skills, assertiveness, etc, besides receiving
training in the various structures of government, from the Village
level, right up to the National level.This significant training had
the positive spin-off that Women's Voice members started to take up
positions in various development committees within the Regional and
Local Councils and to identify, address and solve community
problems as a united force on their own and it inculcated an
awareness of their great significance as voters (the realisation
of: "We can put decision-makers into power, but we could also
replace them").Consequently, Women's Voice members started to lobby
decision makers on - *Health and Education-related issues; * Job
creation for the communities they represent; * A mortuary; an
ambulance; full-time nurses and doctors; * The female condom,
"Femidoms" to effectively protect them from the contraction of
HIV-AIDS; * Sewerage problems in villages; * A cleaner water canal
from where communities collect their drinking water; * More
vocational training centres in the regions, etc.* They are also
lobbying Traditional Authorities to drop harmful cultural practices
that curb women's development; and * They are encouraging strong
and talented women to run for public office to get into powerful
positions of decision-making.The successes in this regard are quite
phenomenal and encouraging and have contributed towards giving poor
communities back their dignity.Other initiatives were the training
of community members in becoming - Para-legals; Violence and
HIV-AIDS Counsellors; First Aid instructors, and the production of
paper bricks to complement household fuel and to curb
deforestation.Projects which were extremely encouraging were, among
others: * The production and marketing of linen shopping bags,
which have reached the 120 000 mark and have put money in the hands
of mothers on a daily basis to feed and clothe their families; *
Over 1 000 computer students were trained at the WAD Hardap Centre
at Rehoboth over a period of 3 years and 60% are already in job
placements; * 780 students were trained at the same centre over a
period of 2 years and at least 50% have either improved their
chances of finding jobs, or are self-employed through projects; *
Numerous other projects have been established across the country
and have reached self-sustainability.Although the successes of
projects outweigh the constraints, some problems were experienced
in the area of, among others: * The lack of self-confidence,
assertiveness and human dignity; * Rather opting for handouts and
laziness; * Strong project members dominating weaker ones and
attempts to hijack projects as their own; * Having difficulty in
accepting the concept of being self-employed given our culture of
working as employees for decades.As a legacy of our colonial past,
many Namibians suffer from an "import syndrome". Goods such as
cheese, butter, chicken, fruit, vegetables, fish nets, fish rope,
bait, bed and table linen, to name but a few, are freely imported
instead of positioning ourselves to train the unemployed to produce
such products. In the process, many jobs are lost for unemployed
Namibians, because women who can produce similar products to the
imported ones, simply cannot do it at similar prices as chain
stores, since they sell hand-made articles and not by way of mass
production.Government Ministries and the Private Sector can
contribute largely towards creating jobs for local women if they
would resist the temptation of importing various articles such as
school uniforms, nurses uniforms, bed linen and curtaining for rest
camps, hospitals, hotels, etc.Many other examples can be cited of
articles which can be locally produced, but which are simply
imported from outside our borders.I therefore, wish to respectfully
caution, that if this tendency continues, Namibia will never
realise the excellent intentions of Vision 2030 to make Namibia an
industrialised nation! It is quite clear that we in Namibia, will
have to undergo a mind shift which will enhance the growth of a
local manufacturing industry.We should also realise that although
we may initially be forfeiting the quality and easy availability of
articles which we are importing at present, it will be to the
lasting benefit of the nation in the long run.On a different front
- gender equality has been moving at a snails pace in Namibia,
which serves as a particular challenge for the incoming government
to improve the situation.In the National Assembly women's
representating decreased from 26,4% to 25% and on Regional level
women represent 11% of the positions. The encouraging progress
towards gender equality on the Local level of 43,3% is largely due
to an Affirmative Action provision in the Local Authorities Act,
which compelled political parties to place a certain minimum number
of women on their candidates lists.Since Namibia now stands
embarrassed for not honouring the SADC Declaration on "Gender and
Development of 1997", which was signed by the SADC Heads of State
to realise the 30% mark for female representation in its
Parliaments and decision-making bodies by the year 2005, the
challenge will be for the incoming President and his And as we come
to the end of an era where the founding President is about to
retire after 15 years, I acknowledge that a source of great hope to
the organisation was the positive stance of the Namibian Government
and in particular, our Head of State, with regard to the promotion
of women. Women can now only hope that the President Elect,
Hon.Pohamba, will demonstrate the same pro-women sentiments which
will enhance gender equality in Namibia because there can be no
talk of true democracy in the country without the equal
representation of women in the Namibian society.* Veronica De Klerk
is the Executive Director of WAD