report summary PARLIAMENTARY STANDING COMMITTEE ON HUMAN RESOURCES, SOCIAL AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT ERONGO AND HARDAP REGIONS FIELD VISITS 11-24 MAY 2008 COMPILED BY MICHAEL CONTEH CONTENTS LIST OF ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS AIDS Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome ARV Anti-Retroviral CAA Catholic AIDS Action CAFO Church Alliance for Orphans CCLO Chief Community Liaison Officer CEO Chief Executive Officer CDC Constituency Development Committee DAC District AIDS Community ECD Early Childhood Development ELCAP Evangelical Lutheran Church AIDS Programme GBV Gender Based Violence HBC Home Based Care HAART Highly Active anti-retroviral Treatment HIV Human Immunodeficiency Virus IGA Income Generating Activities LADC Local Authority Development Committe MDG Millennium Development Goals MoE Ministry of Education MGECW Ministry of Gender Equality and Child Welfare MoHA Ministry of Home Affairs MoHSS Ministry of Health and Social Services MoLSW Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare MoME Ministry of Mines and Energy MoSS Ministry of Safety and Security MTI Ministry of Trade and Industry MWTC Ministry of Works, Transport and Communication MP Members of Parliament MTPIII Medium Term Plan III NDT Namibia Development Trust NGO Non-Governmental Organisation NIED National Institute for Education Development OPM Office of the Deputy Prime Minister OVC Orphans and Vulnerable Children PIN People in Need PMO Principal Medical Officer PMTCT Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission RACOC Regional AIDS Coordinating Committee SME Small and Medium Enterprises STI Sexually Transmitted Infection TAC Technical AIDS Committee TB Tuberculosis UNAM University of Namibia UNDP United Nations Development Programme UNFPA United Nations Population Fund UNICEF United Nations Children’s Fund USAIDS United States Agency for International Development VTC Voluntary Testing and Counseling 2 ERONGO AND HARDAP REGIONS FIELD VISITS LIST OF ACRONYMS AND E x e c u t i v e ABBREVIATIONS S u m m a r y This report presents the findings and recommendations regional OVC database should be established. Concern of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Human was expressed that some schools were receiving grants Resources, Social and Community Development based for OVCs, but then discriminating against them. The on fact-finding visits to the Erongo Region (11th-17th May, division of responsibility for OVCs between two Ministries 2008) and Hardap Region (18th-24th May, 2008). The two (MGECW and MoHSS) created some operational difficulties regions are characterized by widespread poverty, linked especially for service delivery to the community. Concern to economic changes in the farming sector, and the was expressed about the need to provide quality-control challenge of dealing with widespread alcohol-abuse. for the many Early Childhood Development Centres that were being established in the regions. The visits took place as part of a project implemented by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Child Welfare in The report identifies a number of income-generating collaboration with Parliament and with the support of projects in the two regions, but recognizes the widespread the three UN agencies namely UNDP, UNICEF and UNFPA. poverty encountered and the implications this has on The project is entitled “Strengthening Commitment the health of the population, such as the fact that HIV and Leadership of Government to Expand HIV and AIDS positive people fail to take their ARV treatment when Response, Gender Issues and Women’s Empowerment”. they are unable to obtain food. It also raises concerns The primary aim of the project is to examine the about the rising number of teenage pregnancies and the provisions made in the regions to cope with a number of fact that HIV positive pregnant women are continuing to key issues, namely: Gender-based violence, Orphans and breastfeed their children as they are unable to obtain Vulnerable Children (OVCs), HIV and AIDS, reproductive formula milk. One of the greatest concerns raised by the health and income-generating activities. report is the low standard of maintenance and cleanliness experienced in many of the health facilities visited. The main aims of the regional visits are to monitor the The poor state of the health infrastructure in the two effectiveness with which Government policies on these regions extended to the lack of sufficient ambulances to issues are being implemented, to receive direct input provide an adequate service to the community and the from the relevant agencies in the regions about the lack of adequate accommodation for medical staff. The challenges and difficulties they face and to engage with prevailing conditions contribute to staff shortages which NGOs working in the sector. are compounded by the shortage of trained Namibian doctors and the difficulties faced in processing work On the issue of gender-based violence the report notes permits for expatriates. that there are no functional safe houses for victims exist in either Erongo or Hardap Region, cases involving The report makes a number of pertinent observations gender-based violence were frequently withdrawn as the about the administrative structures in place to cope with family relied financially on the perpetrator, there was the problems focused on by the Committee. It notes that widespread concern about the limited availability of the small local NGOs often played an important role, but that new rape kits at Women and Children Protection Units the co-ordination and communication between these (and of trained staff to use them), alcohol abuse was organizations and the state structures could be improved. perceived as a central cause of many cases and this is Regional AIDS Coordinating Committees (RACOC) were directly linked to inadequate control of the operation of functioning in both regions, but also required more shebeens and the relevant laws and guidelines were not support in the form of transport and materials in order widely available. to increase their impact. One key consequence of the shortage of transport is that it limits the ability of doctors The report gives detailed attention to the issue of and social workers to make sufficient visits to smaller OVCs. It recognizes that OVC Committees have been rural settlements. widely established, but need to receive further training and become more broad-based to increase their The report makes a number of specific recommendations effectiveness. The lack of transport and shortage of to address the concerns raised at meetings in the two social workers seriously hinders the adequate provision regions. Separate recommendations are made to the of services to OVC Committees, especially in the smaller Ministries of Education, Gender Equality and Child settlements. Delays in obtaining identity documents also Welfare, Health and Social Services, Home Affairs, Labour delayed the registration of OVCs and it was noted that a and Social Welfare, Safety and Security and Trade and ERONGO AND HARDAP REGIONS FIELD VISITS 3 Industry. family values; Enquiring into and monitoring international The report also notes a number of general concerns that protocols, conventions and agreements that may were widely raised in the Erongo and Hardap Region. One affect the country’s human resources, social and was that the observation that the residents of the two community development and, when necessary, regions faced particular difficulties due to a shortage of making recommendations to the Assembly. adequate housing and sanitation, and inadequate public transport facilities. In addition there were repeated claims Although significant progress has been made in Namibia that there were insufficient educational opportunities for towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals young people in the southern part of Namibia. It was also (MDG), and Vision 2030, these efforts are being undermined argued that staffs were being employed in key sectors by what is known as the “Triple Threat” – which comes where good communication is crucial, such as social work from the HIV and AIDS pandemic, intensifying food and policing, without the necessary linguistic skills to insecurity and the lack of human capacity. adequately express themselves to the local population. The awareness of these more general concerns should In an effort to address the above-mentioned challenges, inform decision-makers when addressing the range of the Ministry of Gender Equality and Child Welfare in specific challenges covered by the report. collaboration with Parliament and with the support of UN Agencies: UNICEF, UNDP and UNFPA, entered into a co- 1. INTRODUCTION operation to implement a project called “Strengthening Commitment and leadership of government to expand the HIV and AIDS response, gender issues and awareness The overall mandate of the Committee on Human and protection of women’s rights”. The project targets Resources, Social and Community Development is to the Members of Parliament (MPs) from the Parliamentary consider any matter it deems relevant with regard to Standing Committee on Human Resources, Social and the Offices, Ministries, Agencies and all State owned Community Development as implementing partners. Enterprises and Parastatals responsible for the following category of affairs which shall, inter alia, include: The overall goal of the field visit is to address gender inequality that contributes to the spread of HIV and AIDS. Education & Training, Sport and Culture The specific objectives of the project are; Employment Creation To promote interaction