Defining and using
‘writing as resistance’ on themes or issues that are linked to some of the most
serious challenges facing women and their communities at present, are the main
activities of the Women’s Leadership Centre (WLC). Now the WLC has succeeded in
securing funding from the Finish embassy for realising these aims. At the
signing of the funding agreement [...]

The role that men play in society is viewed as crucial in
the fight against HIV/AIDS and other social ills. Some believe that if more men
become part of home-based care (HBC) programmes, it may add value to the
reduction of the stigma and discrimination that is often faced by people living
with HIV/AIDS. Male involvement in HBC, many [...]

Namibia
needs to come up with a strategic framework of branding and marketing itself as
a destination for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). Prime Minister Nahas Angula
says tourism, fishing, mining, energy, agriculture, manufacturing, financial
services, transport and communication and the water sector are becoming
investors, from both foreign and local sources. ?We must create the necessary
conditions for investors to develop [...]

Food-borne diseases
are a serious threat to people in Africa, especially Africans already weakened
from devastating conditions such as malaria and HIV/AIDS, two UN agencies warned
this week at the first-ever Regional Food Safety Conference for Africa. Some 200
food safety officials and experts from 50 countries are attending a four-day
conference held under the auspices of the UN Food [...]

In recent months, the assessment
of food security and disaster preparedness in Namibia featured quite prominently
on the national agenda. Various meetings were held in Namibia and within the
SADC region were national and regional food security as well as the region?s
capability to deal with natural and other disasters were discussed at length.
The irony of the matter is [...]

In UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan?s message on the
International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, observed on 17 October, he
stated that poverty devastates families, communities and nations. It causes
instability and political unrest and fuels conflict. Today, some 800 million
people are chronically hungry and malnourished. Every day, 30,000 children die
due to causes directly related to poverty. Those [...]

Namibia and
the United Nations last week launched a Common Country Assessment (CCA) and
signed a Joint UN Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) for the years of 2006
to 2010. The government-UN CCA identified three key areas that have had a
negative impact on national development. Those areas are the high HIV prevalence
and multiple impacts of AIDS; increasing household food [...]

Southern Africa is
prone to both natural and man-made disasters and the disaster scenario across
the region ranges from conflict emergencies, cyclones, flooding, droughts and
refugee situations with countries exhibiting varying degrees of exposure.
Hazards such as disease outbreaks, road accidents and the HIV/AIDS pandemic cut
across the whole region. In response, Windhoek last week hosted a conference
organised by the [...]

Botswana, in partnership
with the International Federation for Information Processing (IFIP), is gearing
up to host the second World Information Technology Forum (WITFOR) in Gaborone at
the end of this month. WITFOR 2005 aims to address issues that are critical to
developing countries – the application of technology in the fight against
HIV/AIDS, poverty, access to education and environmental issues, [...]

Minister of Health and
Social Services Richard Kamwi says society at large must work towards curbing
alcohol abuse in the country. Kamwi says there is need for people in the country
to join hands and counter the growing threat of excessive consumption of
alcohol. The minister said reducing alcohol abuse would help reduce cases of
HIV/AIDS and violence, which are [...]