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Nawa 24 |
Mar 1 2004 |
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"NEW START"LAUNCH KATUTURA
 "We are all HIV positive"declared Conny Samaria, the Advocacy Director of Lironga Eparu, Namibia`s National Association of People Living with HIV/AIDS, "until proven HIV negative by a test result."Conny was speaking at the February 4 launch of the "New Start"HIV/AIDS Voluntary Counseling and Testing (VCT) Center at the Council of Churches of Namibia (CCN) complex in Katutura, the township area of Namibia`s capital city of Windhoek. With a prevalence rate of over 20 percent and few people having been tested, assuming that everyone is HIV positive, and taking the precautions implicit in that assumption, is not a bad strategy for a Namibian to adopt. An even better strategy, however, as Conny later highlighted, is being tested for HIV and knowing one`s HIV status.
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Studies confirm that people who know that their status is negative take greater precaution and make better choices when it comes to sex. On the other hand, people who know their status is positive are in a better position to learn to live with their positive status, to get treatment when it becomes necessary, and to not infect those with whom they have relations.
The launch of "New Start"will make knowing one`s status much easier for Namibians. "New Start"is a network of free-standing VCT centers. Launched in February 2003, "New Start"is implemented by the Social Marketing Association (SMA), a local affiliate of Population Services International. SMA collaborates with local partners, such as the CCN, through a franchising scheme. SMA provides operational guidelines and protocols, training, mass media marketing, research and monitoring, and quality assurance, while the local partner provides the site, staff and outreach capacity. Currently six "New Start"centers are operational, with the number expected to increase to eight by the end of March. Services at the centers are anonymous and highly subsidized.
Support for "New Start,"is a collaboration among several donors, including USAID, the Centers for Disease Control, and the European Community. Prime Minister Theo Ben Gurirab, who joined Conny at the launch of CCN`s "New Start"VCT Center, thanked the donors for their "generosity in helping [Namibia] fight the scourge of HIV/AIDS,"and noted, that those involved in promoting VCT demonstrate that, "in spite of all the challenges posed by HIV/AIDS, there is hope."Read the full text of the speeches at speeches.htm |
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DEMOCRACY AND DEVELOPMENT EXPO 2004
 The Namibian Parliament, with support from USAID-funded organizations, the National Institute for Democracy (NDI) and the Namibia Institute for Democracy (NID), hosted its first `Democracy and Development Expo` to help mark the opening of the ninth and final session of the third Parliament. Over 40 organizations, including NGOs, civil society organizations and private sector groups, set up booths at the two day event in order to showcase their work to the public; and interact, share ideas, network and learn from each other. It is estimated that ca 2000 people visited the Expo.
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The Expo concluded with an entertaining program that included poetry; a short, satirical political drama; awards and speeches. In thanking participants, Foster Mijiga, Country Director of NDI, stated, "It is important for elected leaders to meet the various individuals and organizations that are contributing towards democracy and development in this country. It is equally important to find out the various resources that are available....[those] resources that the elected leaders can and should use when developing and implementing legislation and public policies."
The Expo was hailed as a success and cited by those who attended for opening a new chapter in parliamentary tradition in the SADC region and setting an example of practical democracy at work.
Namibia`s Third Parliament was elected in 1999 and has since passed over 90 acts. Among the more recently passed acts are the `Combating of Domestic Violence` Act and the `Anti-Corruption` Act. Elections for the Fourth Parliament, as well as for President of Namibia, are scheduled for late 2004. |
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NAMIBIAN CONSERVANCY WINS TOP AWARD
 The residents of Torra Conservancy in Kunene Region have much to be proud of. They are conserving desert-dwelling elephants, some of the only black rhinos on communal land in Africa, endangered mountain zebra and a number of other wildlife species. They are using their wildlife sustainably to generate income to help reduce poverty in their conservancy. Now, as a result of their joint conservation and development successes, the residents of Torra have been honored by international conservationists. At the Seventh Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity,held in Malaysia recently, Torra and six other communities from around the world shared the Equator Initiative Prize. This is a United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) Prize that is awarded to communities from developing countries in the tropics that are successful in combining conservation of biodiversity and poverty reduction. The prize was shared with communities from Mexico, Colombia, India, Indonesia, Brazil and Tanzania. The winners were chosen from a total of 340 nominations. As their share of the prize, Torra Conservancy will receive US$30 000.
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Torra is on the edge of the Namib Desert and residents eke out an uneasy existence from livestock farming. However, since forming a conservancy in 1998 under government legislation, Torra Conservancy has been turning wildlife and tourism into major assets for the local community. They have negotiated an agreement with Wilderness Safaris for the operation of Damaraland Camp, a luxury tented lodge that brought the conservancy more than US$34 375 in 2003. They also sold some of their wildlife to freehold game farmers, which yielded US$11 875 for the conservancy and enabled them to donate a total of US$13 125 to two neighboring conservancies. A further US$14 500 was earned in 2003 from trophy hunting. The conservancy covers all its own operating expenses, including employing its own game guards who monitor the wildlife and help to stop poaching. As a result of its earnings, in early 2003 Torra paid out US$ 73 to each conservancy member, and it has used its wildlife money to support a local school and assist old age pensioners. The amount paid to conservancy members represents about 50% of average annual per capita income, and further highlights the economic and financial benefits of sustainably using natural resources.
Torra Conservancy has received considerable support from the Namibian NGO, Integrated rural Development and Nature Conservation (IRDNC). Both Torra and IRDNC are part of Namibia`s national Community-based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) program which is supported by the Living in a Finite Environment (LIFE) Project, funded by USAID, the Namibian Government and WWF-US. |
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