AFRICA TRADE CENTRE / FDA TRADING PARTNER PROFILE PROGRAMME - PRESENTS
HONORARY PARTICIPANT - WAD - WOMEN'S ACTION FOR DEVELOPMENT
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who supports the premise:
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PRESENTS
WOMEN'S ACTION FOR DEVELOPMENT
Namibia
AS A PROUD
PROFILED HONORARY PARTICIPANT
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CONTACT PERSON:
Veronica DE KLERK
POSITION IN COMPANY:
Executive Director
PHYSICAL ADDRESS:
Windhoek
NAMIBIA
POSTAL ADDRESS:
PO Box 370
Windhoek
NAMIBIA
TEL:
00 264 (0)61 227 630
FAX:
00 264 (0)61 236 372
CELL/MOBILE:
00 264 (0)81 277 8182
EMAIL:
vdeklerk@mweb.com.na
WEB:
EXPERTISE:
NGO
PET PROJECT/BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES:
Developing Africa
National Community Development
Women's Action for Development (WAD), is a “male-friendly”, Self-Help Organisation which aims at uplifting the socio-economic and socio-political situation of primarily Namibian rural women.
The organisation was established in 1994 and is active in in all 13 regions of the country.
WAD receives its core funding from the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, a German Foundation, together with other noteworthy local and international donors.
The organisation is outspoken, fearless and dynamic with equally fearless and dynamic goals. It is well structured, go-ahead and successful and continuously visible in the print and electronic media.
WAD, a non party-political, gender-sensitive organisation, has been successful because of –
Since many illiterate women and men are registered as members of the savings clubs, different colour stamps are pasted in the member’s savings book to assist them to understand how much money they actually saved. For example, a yellow stamp values 50 cents; a red stamp values N$1,00 while a blue stamp would value N$2,00, etc. (1 Nambian dollar equals 1 South Africa, ZAR)
Savings clubs have proven to be very useful for project members to acquire greater buying power, eg. when expensive equipment is needed, the project members simply pool their savings to purchase the item, whereas it would have been very difficult for one woman to acquire that expensive item expeditiously if she were operating on her own.
An unexpected positive spin-off of savings clubs is how it sensitises women, right from the beginning, to keep their families small. For example a woman with 2 children would be able to save much more than a women with 8 children. This awareness is very quickly grasped by the members and it very rapidly and positively filters through to the members to keep their families small, because the evidence is there to be seen and experienced.
The communities nominate their own bold and assertive female or male representatives during community elections to act and speak as their official mouthpiece in the regions. The Women's Voices stand together as a united force and address social problems within their communities themselves, by making use of the decision-makers, community leaders and traditional authorities to assist them in solving their social problems and in acquiring what they need in their villages.
For instance, to name only two examples:
* The “Omaheke Women’s Voice” in the East of the country, lobbied the appropriate decision-makers for a full-time nurse; a full-time doctor; and an ambulance. Due to their training in effective lobbying and advocacy skills, the community in question indeed received a full-time, nurse, doctor and an ambulance.
Women's Voices also lobby appropriate authorities and their communities on educational and health problems, sewerage problems; how to lobby law-makers to pass gender-related laws and to train rural communities in the contents of those laws, democracy, drug abuse, alcoholism, AIDS awareness and also to ensure that jobs in the regions are secured for people of that specific region and that people from other regions are not "imported" to their regions to work there.
They are further sensitised on the power which they possess as voters and making them aware that they could determine their own destiny in using that power effectively. This voting power should however, be used effectively and responsibly in voting for their own upliftment.
Women's Voices also identify and encourage women to stand as candidates in elections, with the view to take up positions of power in the regions.
It goes without saying that WAD very strictly adheres to a non party-political philosophy, but encourages women to fearlessly venture into the male dominated world of politics and governance of the country.
The Women's Voices are further trained in lobbying and advocacy skills and WAD continuously sensitises them to make an informed choice when they go to the polls to elect their leaders.
During 2002 WAD assisted the Regional Women’s Voices to establish a "National Women's Voice" which was inaugurated by the Right Honourable Prime Minister of the Republic of Namibia during 2002.
The National Women’s Voice consists of the Chairpersons of the Regional Women’s Voices, to serve as the Official Mouthpiece for WAD members on National Level and to lobby Parliamentarians, Cabinet Members, or even the President himself, on issues pertaining to the development of women and rural communities as a whole.
Through these highly challenging development programmes, WAD has managed to capture the interest of the print and electronic media as well as decision-makers, the private sector, etc, which in turn has brought positive gains to the organisation in terms of opportunities and funding.
WAD presently (2008) has a membership of over 30 000 women and men, while thousands of other Namibians are positively sensitised regarding the importance of the development of women through its publications and educational talks through the media.
In the execution of my duties, responsibilities and commitments, I pledge, as a member of WAD, to uphold the following principles pertaining to my conduct and attitudes:
1. I pledge my allegiance towards the Government of the Republic of Namibia in its efforts to alleviate poverty and unemployment, and to respect and uphold its lofty principles of good governance and the Rule of Law in the country;
2. I honour the principle of the worth of every person, irrespective of their origin, ethnic or cultural ties, gender, creed or political convictions and their abilities to make a contribution towards the upliftment or well-being of the people of our country.
3. I believe in the human potential and the right to self-determination;
4. I pledge that, on a daily basis, I will be in an active relationship with my fellow human beings and the communities I serve;
5. I accept the responsibility to develop my knowledge and abilities to the benefit of the people I serve;
6. I pledge to carry out the Goals and Objectives of WAD to the best of my ability, to the benefit of the disadvantaged communities of Namibia;
7. I pledge to uphold the non-partisan and non party-political philosophy of WAD and undertake to refrain from biased actions;
8. I pledge to continuously execute my duties efficiently and to enhance the professional image and interests of WAD at all times;
9. I accept responsibility for the quality of my services and undertake to solicit assistance, if need be.
10. I shall honour and uphold WAD 's principles of Discipline, Unity, Courage and Honesty in all walks of my life.
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© Copyright 1999
Revised: 19-11-2008
* Its excellent track record in financial management;
* Training Centres, which have been established in the regions;
* Regional Co-ordinators and Trainers, that have been appointed in the regions to train project members on a daily basis;
* Training staff members, that are mobile to reach the most remote villages in the country;
* The continuous upgrading of skills of staff members which are continuously being upgraded; and
* Strong directives which are continuously being given through to staff and project members by the WAD Management.
Socio-economic empowerment of women:
When WAD becomes active in a region, it works through churches, schools, traditional authorities, decision-makers, etc to reach women. The women are firstly expected to undergo basic training in Hygiene, Nutrition, Family Planning, Child Development Care, AIDS awareness, etc.
This is followed by skills development training (of the members’choice) provided that a market exists for the skills in which they are trained.
Establishment of income-generating projects:
The next step is for WAD to assist the project members with kick-start equipment, materials or loans to start viable projects. This is given once only, as the organisation discourages a hand-outs or dependency mentality among its members. The WAD staff members then further assist the project members on a daily basis with further training, with the view to guide them towards self-sustainability.
Establishment of Savings Clubs:
Simultaneously, training is provided to the project members on how to start a savings club. The Post Offices are used in the rural areas because commercial banks are too expensive for rural people to open savings accounts. One account is opened where a project group would save, although each member has her/his own savings book which clearly depicts her weekly savings.
WAD's successful projects include:
* A 6-member Sewing project in the central-east of the country, which presently have N$40 000,00 in their savings club when they were honoured with an award;
* An 18-member Spitzkoppe Community Based Tourism Project in the Erongo region, which had more than N$50 000,00 in their savings club after salaries and at they time when they won an award;
* A 6 member Mosquito net sewing project in the Omusati region, which had N$73 000,00 in their savings club at the end of March 2005, after salaries had been drawn. Interesting to note is that according to research done by the Ministry of Health and Social Services, the incidence of malaria dropped by 40% in those communities where project members sold their mosquito nets.
* A 7-member Buchery project in the Omaheke region where a loan of N$95 000,00 was awarded to 3 women and 3 men to start a butchery at the end of 1999. The project soon won a WAD trophy for topmost achievers when it was found that they were repaying their loan of N$2 000,00 per month without skipping a month; salaries were paid to project members according to their profits; enough funds were available to buy more meat to keep the butchery self-sustainable.
At the end of May 2004 the loan of N$95 000,00 was fully repaid without the members having skipped one month for a period of four years.
This is a real success story!
Socio-political empowerment of women:
WAD is one of the women's movements in Africa that actively empowers women in this field, with excellent results. WAD has actively assisted its members to establish 7-member "Women's Voice bodies" in the regions in which it is active.
* The “Hardap Women's Voice” in the South of the country, successfully lobbied their authorities to erect a mortuary at one of the small villages in the region. Today the mortuary is built and it serves as a national monument for women, with the clear message that if they stand together with a sense of purpose, they could achieve anything they wanted. Similarly, numerous other success stories can be sighted.
People at Grassroots now Para-legal Advisors:
WAD has also worked together with the Legal Assistance Centre in Namibia to train grassroots people to act as para-legals at the WAD Training Centres in the regions in which it is active to assist its members to solve their legal problems. The result was that para-legal trainees graduated at the WAD Annual Conference during November 2000 as Legal Advisors.
Other areas which WAD has penetrated include:
* The production of over 120 000 linen shopping bags, to secure jobs for rural women; to protect the environment and to eventually replace plastic shopping bags, which have become a menace to the Namibian environment - see:
SPECIAL PROJECT SERVING AFRICA -
THE LINEN SHOPPING BAG PROJECT
* The training of women to produce paper bricks, made from waste paper, to serve as household fuel, and to discourage deforestation- see:
SPECIAL PROJECT SERVING AFRICA -
THE PAPER BRICK PROJECT
* The training of the San and Ovahimba communities, the most marginalized in the country;
* The sensitisation and training of rural communities to produce paper bricks as a supplement for domestic fuel;
* The training of rural communities to become Counsellors in Violence against women and children; as well as in HIV/AIDS awareness;
* The successful advocating for the female condom, “Femidom” in the country;
* The training of female prisoners in needlework, knitting and savings clubs, in partnership with the Ministry of Prisons & Correctional Services;
* The training of women with disabilities in Needlework and Savings Clubs, in partnership with the Ministry of Lands & Resettlement.
* The training of the WAD staff in First Aid, who in turn, train project members in First Aid at WAD Centres. This has become necessary as hospitals and clinics are sparsely situated in the rural areas.
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