WOMEN, PEACE AND SECURITY NEWS archive: NAMIBIA
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2006

Domestic Violence Tops Crimes Against Women
October 30, 2006 - (New Era) More than one-fifth of all violent crimes in Namibia occurs in the context of domestic relationships. Due to this finding, which forms part of the Legal Assistance Centre, research on the implementation of the Combating of Rape Act and the Combating of Domestic Violence Act that is still underway, the LAC feels that if domestic violence is eliminated from society, women will be significantly safer from this crime.

Gender Policy to Be Changed, Says Govt
October 19, 2006 - (The Namibian) The National Gender Policy will undergo changes and a reform process that will be spearheaded by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Child Welfare. The Policy was only drawn up and completed in 1997, but needed revision to better address existing gender inequality, persistent discriminatory norms and practices, the Ministry announced this week.

Women's Development Needs Speeding Up
October 17, 2006 - (New Era) The Minister of Gender Equality and Child Welfare, Marlene Mungunda, has expressed concern over the slow pace of development of women in the country.

Gender Reform
October 5, 2006 - (VOA Africa) The women of Namibia are calling on their government to speed up the pace of gender reform in time for the 2009 general elections in that country. Southern Africa Development Community countries are mandated to have 50 percent women representation in their national parliaments. But the women’s council of the ruling Southwest Africa People’s Organization (SWAPO) says the party is moving too slowly in realizing this goal.

Women Want Prominence Without Tokenism
September 29, 2006 - (UN Integrated Regional Information Networks) Women's organisations are calling on government to pick up the pace of gender reform in Namibia, demanding that the ruling South West Africa People's Organisation (SWAPO) field an equal number of women candidates in the 2009 general elections.

Swapo Women to Hold Congress This December
September 14, 2006 - (The Namibian) The Swapo Women's Council has decided to hold its next Congress in December this year to elect new leaders. Linea Shaetonhodi, Deputy Secretary for the Women's Council, announced on Tuesday that the Congress would be held at Rundu during the weekend of December 8 to 10.

Must Women Migrate to Survive?
September 12, 2006 - (New Era) Domestic work offers Namibians - mainly young women migrating to urban areas - the path to a better future and an escape from poverty, as well as improved health and education for their children. Due to the nature of their work, which is usually outside the public sphere, these women are dependent on their employers for basic needs and in the process become vulnerable to abuses by their employers without recourse to justice.

Swapo Women Call for Unity
September 11, 2006 - (New Era) The Deputy Secretary of the Swapo Party Women's Council (SPWC) Linnea Shateonodi has called on the SPWC to remain strong and united as the Swapo Party goes through a difficult period.

2005

Top UN Post for Namibian Woman
December 19, 2005 – (New Era: Windhoek) Namibian Cape Town trained medical doctor, Sophia Kisting-Cairncross, recently made history after being appointed to a top United Nation's position in Geneva, Switzerland. She is one of only a handful of Namibians currently working within the UN system, as director of HIV/AIDS in the Workplace, compared to other African countries.

Underage sex-workers have few other options to survive
Oct 24, 2005 - (IRIN) It's 22:30 on a hot, humid Saturday night in the seedy suburb of Ausspannplatz, south of the central business district of Windhoek, the Namibian capital. The streets appear deserted, but this changes when a vehicle appears. Boys in their teens and a few scantily dressed girls, some who don't even look 14, emerge from the shadows.

Rising demands for action against gender-based violence
October 14, 2005 – (IRIN) Outraged gender rights groups in Namibia have urged authorities to take decisive action against the perpetrators of a recent spate of violent attacks against women and children.

'Not Enough Laws for Gender Equity'
September 8, 2005 – (New Era) Despite several colonial laws being scrapped by the new government at Independence, it appears the new laws are just not enough to ensure gender equality in society, says Gender Equality and Child Welfare Minister Marlene Mungunda.

Strong Call to End Gender Violence Now
July 25, 2005 – (Namibia Economist) A regional preparatory consultation on the UN Secretary General's Study on Violence for Eastern and Southern Africa took place in Johannesburg this week with a strong call to end the violence that was afflicting many of the continent's children.

Violence Needs to Be Stopped
February 23, 2005 - (Windhoek) Namibia is enveloped in a litany of violence by way of an undeclared war daily being waged against innocent women and children, something that has become a norm rather than an exception. With these words Rosa Namises of the Congress of Democrats yesterday motivated her party's motion on Violence Against Women and Children in the National Assembly.

2004

Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman - But Already a Mother
November 9, 2004 - (New Era) TEENAGE pregnancies have become common in the small Lüderitz community. The town, which only has one secondary school, records an average of eight teenage pregnancy cases annually.

Natau Convenes Meeting for Women
November 9, 2004 - (New Era) WOMEN from the transport and allied industries convened a two-day meeting over the weekend under the flagship of the Namibia Transport and Allied Workers' Union (Natau) to discuss issues and constraints facing women in the transport sector.

Selling Bodies And Ending Up in Jail
November 3, 2004 - (New Era) Findings of the first ever-regional poverty profile indicate that poor people resort to various survival tactics, some of which have negative implications for their health, the sustainability of their livelihood sources and their children's health and education.

Women Should Fight for Their Rights
October 19, 2004 - (New Era - Windhoek) - A city Councillor has appealed to women to stand up for their political and economic rights and to get involved in developmental activities in their respective communities. At the opening of the Tobias Hainyeko Consti-tuency office over the week-end, Ellaine Trepper, the Deputy Mayor of the City of Windhoek, said development could not be achieved if women were left behind.

Political Parties Blasted Over Gender Equity
October 14, 2004 -(New Era -Windhoek) Political parties stand accused of failing to implement gender equity that would balance the scales of power and result in more women parliamentarians. The Coordinator at Namibian Women's Manifesto Network, Liz Frank, says both ruling and opposition political parties have not ratified conventions that would result in more women being represented on the political front.

COD WOMEN MILITATE FOR POLICE ACTION ON VIOLENCE
August 19, 2004 - (The Namibian) The women of the Congress of Democrats (CoD) have expressed reservations about the impact that legislation such as the Domestic Violence Act, Anti-rape Act as well as the Married Persons Equality Act will have on society.

UN URGES NAMIBIA TO STEP UP AIDS FIGHT
June 23, 2004 - (Push Journal) A top UN official has urged Namibia to play a greater role in combating the effects of HIV/AIDS and offer improved access to services for the rapidly growing number of orphans and vulnerable women.

PARLIAMENT TABLES MOTION ON WOMEN'S RIGHTS
June 11, 2004 – (New Era) The ratification of the protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa, is one of three strong motions that was tabled by both ruling and opposition parties in Parliament on Tuesday.

AFRICAN WOMEN'S BUREAU FOCUSES ON GENDER, HIV
April 8, 2004 – (New Era) The Network of African Women Ministerial and Parliamentarian Bureau met yesterday in Windhoek to map out strategies for its sixth conference to be held in October in Gabon.

WOMEN REMAIN SHACKLED
April 2, 2004 – (New Era - Windhoek) Female municipal councillors at Walvis Bay are afraid the quest for gender balance in all spheres will remain a pipe dream if women do not avail themselves for service.

WFP & UNICEF LAUNCH EMERGENCY APPEALS TO HELP OVER 600,000 WOMEN AND CHILDREN IN NAMIBIA
March 10, 2004 – (ReliefWeb) The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) and UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) today launched emergency appeals totalling US$5.8 million to help more than 600,000 orphans, vulnerable children and women in Namibia, who are suffering from the combined effects of erratic weather, severe poverty and the worsening HIV/AIDS epidemic.

NEW ACTING JUDGES GIVE A TOUCH OF GENDER BALANCE TO HIGH COURT
February 10, 2004 – (The Namibian – Windhoek) Namibia's almost entirely male High Court judiciary has received a touch of greater gender balance with the latest appointments of Acting Judges.

VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN, CHILDREN PEAKED IN DECEMBER
January 19, 2004 – (New Era - Windhoek) A POLICE summary of reported violent crimes committed against women and children over the December period last year shows that an equal number of adults and minors were raped.

2003

DE KLERK LAMENTS LOW WOMEN REPRESENTATION IN PARLIAMENT
November 24, 2003 – (The Namibian - Windhoek) THE head of Women's Action for Development (WAD), Veronica De Klerk, has expressed concern over the slow pace of integrating women into regional parliaments.

1 RAPE EVERY 60 MINUTES
November 12, 2003 – (The Namibian - Windhoek) AT least one woman, or young girl, is raped every hour of every day in Namibia.

GROUNDBREAKING HIV RAPE PROSECUTION CRUMBLES
October 16, 2003 – (The Namibian - Windhoek) THE first trial in Namibia of a man accused of raping while knowing he was HIV positive, ended with a not guilty verdict in the High Court in Windhoek yesterday.

LONG BATTLE LIES AHEAD ON GENDER EQUALITY
October 3, 2003 – (The Namibian - Windhoek) NAMIBIA still has a long way to go to achieve gender equality in all sectors, says Minister of Women Affairs and Child Welfare, Netumbo Ndaitwah.

SWAPO WOMEN REVIEW THE WAY FORWARD
August 5, 2003 – (The Namibian - Windhoek) Head of the Swapo Party Women's Council (SPWC), Eunice Iipinge, has not ruled out restructuring the wing to "conform with the demands of a multi-party democratic system".

SEX CRIMES 'WILL ERODE IMAGE OF TRADITIONAL LEADERS'
July 31, 2003 – (The Namibian - Windhoek) A SENIOR Damara leader says the image of traditional leaders will be damaged if they commit rapes and other violent crimes.

POOR TURNOUT AT GENDER ADVOCACY SYMPOSIUM
July 22, 2003 – (The Namibian - Windhoek) MEDIA practitioners made a poor showing at a symposium called in the capital yesterday to draw up an action plan for gender advocacy.

NO 50-50, NO VOTE, SAY WOMEN
July 11, 2003 – (The Namibian - Windhoek) WOMEN'S activists on Wednesday vowed not to vote for political parties that do not include their concerns in their manifestos or which lack equal representation on their party lists.

PRESIDENT NUJOMA CONDEMNS VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND CHILDREN
February 12, 2003 – (The Namibian –Windhoek) As armed Police officers kept Namibians concerned about violence against women and children away from Parliament yesterday, President Sam Nujoma was speaking about the issue inside the National Assembly.

2002

TEEN PREGNANCY RATE 'HIGH' IN KARIBIB AREA
June 30, 2002 - (PAMBAZUKA NEWS) Last year one in five pregnant women in the Karibib district were teenagers who should have been in school, says Dr Matthew Akpo. The Usakos-based doctor told a Women's Action for Development (WAD) Field Day at Karibib last Saturday, that the teenage pregnancy rate remained high even though health workers were teaching family planning techniques.

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