Namibia: Gender Links hosts 4th Protocol@Work Summit

Windhoek, 15 June: The atmosphere that prevailed at the start of the 4th national gender summit hosted by Gender Links Namibia was reminiscent of a huge family gathering. Government representatives, development partners, members of civil society organisations and the NGO-community braved the icy weather to be at the Gateway Centre in Windhoek for the opening of the summit on Tuesday 09 June 2015.

Mr Ivin Lombard, CEO of the Namibia Non-Governmental Forum (NANGOF), was the first speaker after Pastor Jafet //Garoeb, who opened the summit with a prayer. He emphasised NANGOF’s role and mandate, making special reference to its advocacy work in support of capacitating civil society organisations in Namibia.

“Gender Links makes our work easy” was the opening statement of Ms Agatha Moetie, President of the Namibia Local Authorities Officers (NALAO). She supported this claim by saying: “we complete our scorecards annually to ensure that the (Gender) Barometer would capture what is happening in our towns”. According to Ms Moetie, NALAO is in need of capacity-building opportunities because they don’t have gender-specific departments in the Local Authorities. She is of the opinion that such capacity is needed so that local authorities would understand the diversity and complexity of gender.

Speaking on behalf of Doreen Sioka, Minister of Gender Equality and Child Welfare, Ambassador Tonata Itenge-Emvula, Special Advisor to the Minister, said that the Minister supports the work of Gender Links, and that their door is always open for addressing new approaches to tackle gender-related concerns. She said that: “poverty and the scourge of AIDS still bear the face of women. We need partnerships such as the one we have with Gender Links”. Making reference to the presence of especially young women in the audience, Ambassador Itenge-Emvula said that if training such as that done by Gender Links had not worked, there would not have been so many young people in the audience.

Ms Carmen Diaz, the Spanish Ambassador to Namibia, informed the audience that the Embassy of Spain is indeed part of the Gender Links family. It is for this reason, she said, that the Embassy has seen the need to support the work of Gender Links in Namibia, and seeks to consult with them in their work to address gender disparities.

The Opening Ceremony ended with Ms Sarry Xoagus, Gender Links Country Manager, giving the highlights of the 2015 Namibia Gender Protocol Barometer. Of concern, she stated, is that gender-based violence, especially rape, still tops the list of problems to be addressed. Other issues highlighted included insufficient entrepreneurial ventures for women, land issues and a lack of access to productive resources, and agricultural projects for women in order to address poverty. She then invited Ambassador Itenge-Emvula to launch the 2015 Gender Protocol Barometer to rapturous applause.

This article is part of the Gender Links News Service special coverage of the SADC Gender Protocol Summits underway across the region, offering fresh views on everyday news.