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Kunene Conservancies Build
Advocacy Skills through Negotiating Conflicts
Representatives from 14 registered and emerging
conservancies in the Kunene Region (Northwestern Namibia)
requested a special meeting with USAID to discuss political
conflicts that had the potential of undermining the conservancy
development activities in the area. Representing over 500
conservancy members, they came to refute a letter to the prime
minister requesting that the local NGO activities be stopped.
A small group of people led by one chief had written the letter
accusing mismanagement of activities by the NGO. This delegation
wanted USAID to know that the majority of the people in Kunene
supported the conservancy development and wanted it continued.
They all had very positive experiences with the NGO, especially
in the area of management of natural resources. If the program
was halted, they were afraid that poaching would increase
and there would be mass destruction of trees and other environmental
resources. In turn, this would lead to a decrease in tourism
in the area, which would undermine developmental gains from
the past 10 years.
The delegation of 14 had already been to the
offices of the prime minister and Windhoek-based NGOs to plead
their case. They were very articulate in their discussion
about the case and very firm in their resolutions. It was
impressive to see this group of communal leaders handle this
delicate political issue in a professional manner.
As a result of the delegation's work,
the chief was removed by the local tribal authorities, and
the NGO remains in the areas, continuing to work with communities
in the development of stronger conservancies.
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Democracy Works in Namibia
To ensure that Namibia's
nascent political system develops in a manner that includes
a healthy system of checks and balances, USAID/Namibia's Democracy
and Governance strategy has been directed at strengthening
the legislative branch of government, with a specific emphasis
on building the institutional capacities of the Parliament
and improving the functional skills of parliamentarians. With
USAID-funded assistance, the Namibian parliament has established
a functioning committee system, begun to conduct hearings
on key legislation and issues of public interest, established
a Parliamentary Research Center with a local area computer
network, increased its capacity to produce outreach and informational
materials for the media and public, and improved the ability
of its members to analyze legislation.
Perhaps most encouraging is the increasing
openness and number of opportunities that have been created
for interaction between the Parliament and civil society.
USAID has helped to facilitate this development through a
small grants facility that is linked to the legislative strengthening
program. Through this activity, the Parliament made space
available on its premises for Katutura Community Radio, a
USAID-funded grantee and one of the more important voices
of Namibia's disadvantaged community. KCR's broadcasts have
done much to improve citizen awareness of parliamentary responsibilities
and actions. USAID has also drawn on this facility to provide
support for the Namibian Women's Manifesto Network, helping
to bring together under one umbrella a number of organizations
throughout the country concerned with the welfare of women
and children. This national advocacy network has organized
marches and rallies at the Parliament; presented petitions
to parliamentarians; and reached out to the public through
press conferences and interviews in the electronic media.
While the Namibian Parliament has yet to become
an effective check on executive power, there is a growing
professionalism and sense of institutional pride among the
parliamentarians, an increasing respect for the voices of
civil society, and a deepening understanding of the responsibilities
they hold as representatives of the Namibian people.
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Parliamentarians Work in Namibia
Before the introduction of the USAID-funded
legislative strengthening program, there was no bill or government
report review by the constituency-based National Council.
Now, for example, the Members of Parliament in the Council
have requested the auditor general to refer expenditure reports
to them for further review and action. This demonstrates a
growing understanding of their role in the budget process.
During this year's budget debate, MPs raised substantive issues
and arguments on budget allocations, a major shift from the
previous practice of making political statements alone. It
is especially significant that the National Council Committee
on Regional Development and Reports rejected the Communal
Land Bill after it had been referred to the House. The bill
was subsequently remanded to the National Assembly with perfecting
amendments to the legislative draft document. Currently, a
joint committee composed of members of both houses is reviewing
the amendments for consideration. This rejection of the bill
in its initial form by the National Council shows an increased
maturation of the council's parliamentary committees. It also
demonstrates a deeper understanding by that body of its role
as the House of Review and the importance of its contributions
to bills with serious regional impact.
Prior to USAID assistance to parliament, effectively
very few bills were tabled in parliament and there were no
committees to review legislation and call for public hearings.
Namibian citizens offered no input into the legislative review
process and legislation was rubber-stamped. The USAID-supported
legislative strengthening program to the parliament has changed
this situation and resulted in the formation of several effective
technical standing committees (budget, natural resources,
economics) that review pending legislation. In the past year,
28 such bills have been tabled in the National Assembly, seven
of which were referred to committees. The Parliament now has
a well functioning committee system that receives technical
input from extra-parliamentary sources, NGOs, and other expert
bodies. In the past year, 15 bills received public comment,
which have effected amendments to the legislation. The USAID-initiated
processes and system are producing intended results.
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Inter-Agency Collaboration in the
Fight Against HIV/AIDS
During the past few months, three U.S. agencies
in Namibia, the Department of Defense through the American
Embassy, USAID, and Peace Corps, have formed a collaborative
partnership and are pooling resources in order to provide
urgently needed HIV/AIDS services in the coastal town of Walvis
Bay. The U.S. support is being used to build a multi-purpose
center that will offer counseling to HIV/AIDS affected persons
and provide training to center staff to plan and carry out
awareness raising activities for youth, women, and the unemployed.
Construction of the Walvis Bay Multi-Purpose
Center, funded by Disaster Relief Fund of the Department of
Defense (DOD) is nearing completion. DOD staff at the American
Embassy had assisted USAID in identifying the funding in order
to build this much-needed facility. In Walvis Bay, the HIV/AIDS
prevalence rates exceed 25 percent and the mayor of the town
is highly motivated about conducting a vigorous and effective
campaign to address the problem. She had initially contacted
USAID to introduce and run some intervention programs for
the municipality, but quickly realized that there were virtually
no suitable venues to conduct such activities, to offer counseling,
or to provide the required training of home based care providers.
The DOD funds have thus been able to meet an immediate need,
enabling the municipality to construct a building that incorporates
both large activity rooms and smaller counseling cubicles.
The DOD also located redundant furniture in facilities around
the world and is shipping it to Walvis Bay to furnish the
center. As this multi-purpose venue is located in the center
of the highest populated part (formerly township) of Walvis
Bay, it is easily accessible to a large segment of the beneficiary
population and will serve a wide cross-section of the community.
USAID has been involved with the project from
the start. Initially, USAID helped set up a local steering
committee, consisting of key stakeholders, and assisted it
to formalize "operations guidelines" for the center's
management. Through the mission's HIV/AIDS implementing partner,
Family Health International, the steering committee selected
and hired a center director. Once it became evident to the
steering committee that one staff person alone was not going
to be sufficient to manage a center that was envisioned to
be operational from 7:00 am to 10:00 pm, USAID became engaged
in solving that problem. Close liaison and discussions with
Peace Corps resulted in the identification of a Peace Corps
volunteer who had served in Namibia to extend her stay for
six months and assist the Multi-Purpose Center in its start-up
activities. Subsequently, Peace Corps has agreed to assign
one of their new recruits, due for placement in September,
to work for a full two years at the center.
With the center almost completed, the
center director hired, and a volunteer committed to a community-based
approach to HIV/AIDS prevention, the Walvis Bay Multi-Purpose
Center is envisioned to be a hub of activity in the near future,
a place where anyone from the town can come for information
and training and receive support and counseling on HIV/AIDS.
One U.S. agency on its own could not have accomplished this;
it took the combined efforts and resources of all three agencies
and their shared vision and commitment to respond in a meaningful
way to one community's request.
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