Summit 2016 – Eenhana Town Council COE

Eenhana is situated in a subtropical forest. It is the capital of Ohangwena Region that was proclaimed as a town in 1999. At proclamation the town had only a few structures such as traditional office, military base and the hospital, however, at present the town has developed with modern infrastructure and through the Policy of Decentralization, many line Ministries has constructed their regional offices.

In terms of gender-related policies, the council has always been gender conscious, there were no specific gender mainstreaming programs in place hence the start such programs was complex and cumbersome. The council has four male councillors and three female councillors. The Mayor and the Deputy Mayor are both females.

Eenhana Town Council has five committees, three of which are chaired by women. There is a Junior Council and the chair person is a female. The junior council gender has equal number of boys and girls.

Women, people with disabilities (PWD) and youth actively participate in the council work. They participate in decision making. That is, participation in council, Junior Council, community programs, affirmative action committee, sport committee, social club and wellness committee. Between 51% and 75% women take part in public consultations. The public meetings held include ward meetings, special committee meetings and staff meetings.

The council has employed a total workforce of 40% men, 27% women and 33% youth. The council has three females in the management. Some of those women are supervisors within the council.

There are provisions for both maternal leave and paternal leave. Men and women who are due for maternity and paternity leave are all given three months leave. There is a policy against sexual harassment. The sexual harassment cases are treated fairly just like other cases. If a person commits such a crime she/he will face the consequences. There are procedures that are being followed when such situation occurs.

The Eenhana Town Council has allocated budget to mainstream gender-related projects from 2015 and 2016.

The council is promoting markets and investments for the purpose of improving the local economy and create jobs. It also enhances Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) development and provide a platform for training and mentorship of SMEs to the public. This is done to help women, youth and PWD uproot themselves and live out of poverty. The council also encourages traders at the Open Market, especially those in catering industry, to join-venture and appoint them to provide some of the catering services to council events.

In relation to climate change control, waste management structure and systems for both solid and liquid are in place (collection & disposal). The council introduced a green concept to protect and preserve the environment. Management of the landfill site, with the appointment of the dumping site caretaker, encourage recycling and re-use of waste as an employment opportunities and caring for environment.

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