Empowering Changemakers for Social Entrepreneurship

Empowering Changemakers: Youth Social Entrepreneurship and Social Innovation in the Citizen Sector (SE-HUB)

Grant decision No: 2018-3974/ 001-001

Social Enterprise

(Namibia)1 Area of work: Youth development Website: http://www.aiesecnamibia.org/

I. Key facts

AIESEC is a global, non-political, independent, social enterprise run by students and recent graduates of institutions of higher education. Founded in 1948, AIESEC does not discriminate because of race, color, gender, sexual orientation, creed, religion, and nationality, ethnic or social origin.

AIESEC is a non-governmental not-for-profit organization in consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) affiliated with the UN DPI, member of ICMYO, and is recognized by UNESCO. AIESEC International Inc. is registered as a not-for-profit organization under the Canadian Not-for-profit Corporations Act - 2018-02-08, Corporation Number: 1055154-6 and Quebec Business Number (NEQ) 1173457178 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

AIESEC Namibia is the 124th expansion of AIESEC. AIESEC Namibia started in July 2013 and is currently registered as a NGO in Namibia under registration number is 21/2014/0931, as well as affiliated with Ministry of Youth.

II. Objectives and Activities

The vision of AIESEC Namibia is peace and fulfillment of humankind’s potential. Its mission includes:  To develop the Namibian youth into responsible, entrepreneurial and globally minded leaders  To collaborate with social and professional organizations connected with the youth  To be the leading youth organization

AIESEC Namibia provides the youth with an integrated development experience comprised of leadership opportunities, international internships and participation in a local and global learning environment. Some of the yearly activities include:

1 This good practice is presented by National Youth Council (Namibia).

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

Empowering Changemakers: Youth Social Entrepreneurship and Social Innovation in the Citizen Sector (SE-HUB)

Grant decision No: 2018-3974/ 001-001

 National conferences: April and September  AIESEC University Power Talks: Once a month  AIESEC International Congress: February and July  Recruitment: February and July  National Induction Seminars: March and August  Namibia Youth Speak Forum: April  Workshops and Trainings: Once every 2 months

The national team of AIESEC Namibia consists of four individuals that are on a 13 Months term, according to the AIESEC year.

As a non-profit organization, AIESEC Namibia is dependent on the outstanding contribution of members and partnerships developed with universities to support their programs and so far, AIESEC Namibia does not have any funding to support its operation rather relies on the operation of the organization in terms of delivering exchange.

III. Challenges encountered and Impact

Challenges

Access to financial resources to carry out the activities of the organization is one of the biggest challenges that the organization is faced with. This makes it difficult to expand the activities of the organization to cover all corners of the country. The team has also experienced a challenge of attracting young Namibians who are interested in taking up global opportunities to go on exchange programs, because of the high cost associated with taking up such opportunities.

Impact

 Local membership of 120 student in 5 universities across 3 regions (Khomas, Erongo and Oshana)  Over 200 Internship experiences abroad (for Namibians)  International volunteers that worked with organizations like KAYEC Trust, Mandume Language School, CLaSH, Pashukeni Kindergarten and charity Care & Kids Foundation, SCORE, KOMO Academy, ONYOSE Trust, Gobabeb Research and Training Center  Delivered over 12 leadership development conferences and dialogues  Hosted the first Youth to Business Forum with over 130 delegates surrounding Youth Entrepreneurship – Solution to Unemployment 2

Empowering Changemakers: Youth Social Entrepreneurship and Social Innovation in the Citizen Sector (SE-HUB)

Grant decision No: 2018-3974/ 001-001

 Successfully delivered the first Namibia Youth Speak Forum (YSF) in October 2015 and again in April 2016. YSF is an event powered by AIESEC with a goal to bring students together with business leaders, thought leaders, and experts for conversation around global/regional/local issues affecting the youth. The aim is to generate new, innovative and most importantly actionable steps through projects surrounding Sustainable Development Goals and beyond  Media coverage  Successfully delivered the National Youth Development Seminar, 2016 in partnership with National Youth Council of Namibia and Ministry of Sport, Youth and National Service, which had over 550 Namibian Youths in attendance  Successfully delivered the Namibia Youth Summit 2017, in partnership with NYC, FLI, Bank Windhoek, Sanlam and UNFPA.  Annual Namibia Student Investment Challenge in 2017, 2018 and 2019 in collaboration with Namibia Stock Exchange (NSX) and Financial Literacy Initiative(FLI)  Business Innovation Challenge and Idea Creation Competition in partnership with NBII  Global Volunteer Project in partnership with Internet Society on ICT training in different Regions  Global Entrepreneurship Program for talent attraction in Partnership with DOLOLO  Youth for Global Goals initiative in partnership with NYC and HSF 2018

IV. Lessons learnt and conditions for potential replicability

AIESEC Namibia is a branch of a global organization that operates around the world, in Namibia the organization has been replicated in various institutions of higher learning around the country.