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‘Focus on conflict and children’

‘Focus on conflict and children’

THE Speaker of the National Assembly, Theo-Ben Gurirab, says there is a need for conflict prevention and resolution with special focus on the plight of children.

Speaking at the opening of a four-day workshop in Windhoek yesterday on conflict prevention and transformation initiatives in southern Africa, Gurirab said world leaders ought to pay attention to children. The Speaker said although the world preached peace and justice, only a few sacrificed resources in search of peace.He said developing countries were stuck with the reality of colonialism, apartheid and ideological rivalry.Globalisation, he added, was being tainted by increasing poverty, gender inequality, terrorism, organised crime and lawlessness, placing the weak and vulnerable such as young children and women under immense pressure.”Unfortunately the world today is marked by hypocrisy.What we say is not what we do.Yet we all preach peace and justice, only a few are putting their money for the worthy cause,” said Gurirab.The workshop, drawing participants from Europe, the United States of America and southern Africa, is geared at sharing experiences in conflict prevention in the region.UN Resident Co-ordinator Simon Nhongo told the conference that maintaining peace and stability was a challenge meant to steer development.Nhongo said that poverty, lack of access to resources, inequality and the HIV-AIDS pandemic remained greatest challenges facing humanity today.He said it was essential that women be incorporated in peace initiatives at various levels within societies.Nhongo noted that the UN was steering projects meant to enhance the capacities of developing nations in mediating conflicts in such countries as Kenya, Sierra Leone and Zimbabwe.National Planning Commission (NPC) chief Helmut Kangulohi Angula said the preservation of peace was critical and the participation of communities at each and every stage would go a long way in ensuring stability and conflict prevention.Both political and business leaders, added Angula, ought to recognise the value of dialogue in ensuring peace.The church, he said, played a big role in the facilitation of peace.Angula was upbeat about the role of the Namibia Defence Force (NDF) in ensuring peace across the African continent.He said Namibia’s intervention in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) was unfortunately initially misunderstood by the international community.”We hope that the world will today understand our mission to the DRC and recognise that if it was not for our intervention, the United Nations could have taken longer in coming to the aid of the Congolese people,” added Angula.The Speaker said although the world preached peace and justice, only a few sacrificed resources in search of peace.He said developing countries were stuck with the reality of colonialism, apartheid and ideological rivalry.Globalisation, he added, was being tainted by increasing poverty, gender inequality, terrorism, organised crime and lawlessness, placing the weak and vulnerable such as young children and women under immense pressure.”Unfortunately the world today is marked by hypocrisy.What we say is not what we do.Yet we all preach peace and justice, only a few are putting their money for the worthy cause,” said Gurirab.The workshop, drawing participants from Europe, the United States of America and southern Africa, is geared at sharing experiences in conflict prevention in the region.UN Resident Co-ordinator Simon Nhongo told the conference that maintaining peace and stability was a challenge meant to steer development.Nhongo said that poverty, lack of access to resources, inequality and the HIV-AIDS pandemic remained greatest challenges facing humanity today.He said it was essential that women be incorporated in peace initiatives at various levels within societies.Nhongo noted that the UN was steering projects meant to enhance the capacities of developing nations in mediating conflicts in such countries as Kenya, Sierra Leone and Zimbabwe.National Planning Commission (NPC) chief Helmut Kangulohi Angula said the preservation of peace was critical and the participation of communities at each and every stage would go a long way in ensuring stability and conflict prevention.Both political and business leaders, added Angula, ought to recognise the value of dialogue in ensuring peace.The church, he said, played a big role in the facilitation of peace.Angula was upbeat about the role of the Namibia Defence Force (NDF) in ensuring peace across the African continent.He said Namibia’s intervention in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) was unfortunately initially misunderstood by the international community.”We hope that the world will today understand our mission to the DRC and recognise that if it was not for our intervention, the United Nations could have taken longer in coming to the aid of the Congolese people,” added Angula.

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