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Nawa 10 |
Apr 3 2002 |
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STRENGTHENING INTEGRITY SYSTEMS AT LOCAL GOVERNMENT LEVEL
 Against the backdrop of debate around proposed Anti-Corruption legislation in the National Council, the Namibian Association of Local Authorities Officers (NALAO) recently held a two-day workshop on Integrity Systems at Local Government level. Municipal officials from all thirteen regions, as well as representatives from various civic organisations, the National Council and the private sector attended the event. The Deputy Minister of Local Government and Housing, Prof. Gerhard Tötemeyer, the Vice-President of NALAO, Ms Auguste Taanyanda, CEO of Ongwediva Municipality, as well as US Ambassador Kevin McGuire addressed the opening session, offering their thoughts and encouragement. |
Consultants from Management Systems International (MSI), together with a representative from the Ombudsman`s Office sketched the international context, provided the Namibian picture, facilitated discussion around concepts and terminology used in the sector and presented lessons learned. They led hands-on, participatory sessions that helped familiarize municipal officers with an integrity self-assessment tool kit and took them through the steps of using the results to formulate possible action plans to address the areas of vulnerability identified in the process.
In the upcoming weeks, the tool kit will be used in four designated local authorities (Ondangwa, Otjiwarongo, Katima Mulilo and Mariental), in follow-up workshops with larger groups of municipal staff, as well as civic organisations from those particular communities. This will provide an indication of the state of health of integrity systems across the board, identify region-specific weaknesses, as well as scope out common problems that will be presented to participants at a follow-up workshop for officers from all municipalities to be convened at the end of May. An action work plan to address priority areas through training, technical assistance and the provision of grants for specific region-based anti-corruption activities over the course of the following eighteen months will then be formulated.
NALAO`s USAID-supported efforts should contribute substantially towards strengthening the capacity of local government bodies to utilise available resources optimally and to render quality services to their customers in a more transparent, efficient and cost-effective manner. |
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HIV/AIDS WORKPLACE PROGRAMS
Several Namibian non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and businesses have taken an active role in forming public-private partnerships and supporting workforce HIV/AIDS programs that inform, educate, protect and provide care and support. A prominent NGO paving the road for others is the AIDS Care Trust (ACT).
In 1999, ACT spearheaded a partnership with the Ministry of Works, Transport, and Communication to train 2000 Namibian road workers as HIV/AIDS peer educators. Since then, the list of private sector companies and labor unions in partnership with ACT has grown impressively and includes NamPower, NamWater, National Housing Enterprise, Standard Bank, Safari Hotel, Namlife, Meatco, BP, Namibia Dairies, Namibia Domestic and Allied Workers Union, Namibian Agricultural Union, and many others.
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ACT`s Workplace Program
Leveraging private sector investment. In all cases, ACT and their private sector partners combine resources to implement the workplace program. For example, NamWater provided an HIV/AIDS coordinator, training facilities, expenses for trainers/peer educators, and the indirect costs from the loss of productive hours due to peer education. ACT, supported by USAID/Namibia, provided a trainer and the training materials. The investment by NamWater exceeded that of ACT and USAID.
Getting buy-in from top managers. ACT staff reach out to major companies and make presentations to top management on the economic and financial benefits of workplace programs.
Facilitating supervisor support of peer educators. ACT staff present to mid-level managers and supervisors - the people who support peer educators and approve time off from work to perform peer education activities.
Selecting and training peer educators. The workplace selects peer educators that are respected and have good communication skills. ACT trains peers for one week and provides a refresher course in 4-5 months. ACT, in collaboration with Family Health International, USAID`s implementing partner, and the Chamber of Mines, another workplace partner, developed a peer educator manual tailored to Namibia that is used in the trainings. ACT supervises peer educator sessions, and offers recommendations for improvement.
Reaching out to families and communities. Aside from the outreach and training in the workplace, peer educators often reach out to family members and members of the surrounding communities.
In Namibia, other focus areas for workplace programs include: promoting non-discrimination and confidentiality in policies and services; providing voluntary counseling and testing; offering prevention education and care/support services; and involving people living with HIV/AIDS in policy/program planning and implementation. |
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JOB CREATION AND MORE INCOME ON THE CARDS
In a bid to increase the profitability of Namibian small and medium enterprises (SMEs), enhance the job-creation potential of the SME sector, and strengthen the capacity of Namibian business service organizations so that these institutions can offer a sustainable quality service to their SME clients, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) recently awarded an approximately US$9 million contract for implementation of a multi-year program, called the Small and Medium Enterprise Competitive Enhancement Program (SMECEP) to the Sigma One Corporation, a U.S. based contractor.
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Sigma One will partner with several local institutions to deliver training and technical assistance to a projected 50 SMEs owned by historically disadvantaged Namibians in the first 2 years of the program. Participating SME owners and employees will gain vital business management skills and receive input on how to exploit business and trade opportunities locally, regionally and internationally by forming industry clusters that will support each other for increased effectiveness, and through joint ventures and other business mechanisms.
Other aspects of the program will include an assessment and identification of niche export markets for Namibian small-scale manufactured products, as well as support provided to the Namibia Chamber of Commerce and Industry to establish a volunteer executive mentoring program.
The program will be implemented in a way that will encourage participation from SMEs in the rural areas. Women-owned and/or —managed businesses will also be targeted for participation in SMECEP activities.
SMECEP is one of three USAID-funded private enterprise development programs, which are all geared towards the economic empowerment of historically disadvantaged Namibians. The other two programs focus on entrepreneurship development among Namibian youth and high school drop-outs (Junior Achievement Namibia) and on the facilitation of business linkages between Namibian businesses and other businesses in the Southern African region, as well as the United States. |
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MOBILE TRAINING UNIT BRINGS PARLIAMENT TO ALL REGIONS OF NAMIBIA
 With funding from the Namibian Ministry of Regional and Local Government and Housing and USAID, the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI) is currently on the road for 13 weeks, taking a bus with 11 computers to the country`s 13 regions for one week each. The bus is equipped with a generator and projectors in order to ensure that participants in locations lacking adequate infrastructure and electricity can receive training. The training program commenced in the Karas region on February 23, 2002 and will conclude June 7 in the Otjozondjupa region.
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In each region, NDI staff are training members of regional and local governments and civil society organizations on how to use the Internet to access information on policy issues and legislation from Parliament and the Ministry of Regional and Local Government and Housing web sites. Each day, hour-long sessions are held from 8 am to 8 pm with 11 participants per class. Classes are arranged according to computer skill levels and participants attend two training sessions per day. Participants learn how to search for information on the Internet, design newsletters, send e-mails and use video conferencing. By the end of the week, even computer novices have gained the necessary skills to gain information about parliamentary activities and send e-mails to MPs and government officials about issues of concern.
During the training sessions, fundamental aspects of democratic governance are discussed, such as how a bill becomes law, the role of citizens in the legislative process, the responsibilities of elected officials to voters, the difference between the constitution and an amendment, the role of the media and the role of civic advocacy groups. The goal of the program is to increase the capacity of those in the regions to communicate with Parliament and the Ministry within the context of the government`s decentralization process.
In every region three hours are dedicated to schools through a civic education programme. Over 400 students so far have participated the training programs in the MTU in smaller groups of thirty. The program introduces the “honor" students to Parliament and the decision-making process and raises awareness that through ICT, those below the voting age can have their voice heard in the decision-making process. Apart from the educational benefits of such learning research skills, the training attempts to instill national pride and sense of responsibility.
Websites: Parliament Online; the Ministry of Regional and Local Government and Housing |
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