Namibia: Womens Health Urgent Priority

From AllAfrica:

THE deteriorating state of women's health worldwide has become "an urgent priority" for the World Health Organisation (WHO).

In order to address these concerns, the WHO said there was an "urgent need for more coherent political and institutional leadership, visibility and resources for women's health to enable us to make progress in saving the lives and improving the health of girls and women in the coming years."

In its latest report on women and health, launched in Windhoek this week, it is stated that although women live longer than men, their longer lives are not necessarily healthy lives.

The report also brought under the spotlight how a lack of income could affect women's health, especially regarding maternal mortality.

Namibia: Women Demand Action For Votes

From AllAfrica:

NAMIBIAN women from all walks of life have made it clear that political parties will have to earn their votes, and will be held accountable for the promises they make.

This message was communicated to political parties yesterday during a dialogue with women as part of the Women Claiming Citizenship Campaign, where a "women's advocacy brochure" outlining the demands of Namibian women was also launched.

The demands listed in the brochure include "freedom from violence and discrimination, freedom from harmful cultural practices and beliefs, freedom from hunger and poverty, access to resources and services, freedom from preventable diseases and access to quality healthcare for all, freedom from HIV and AIDS, and access to quality education and training."

Giving the keynote address at the event, Anna Beukes, Executive Director of the Namibia NGO Forum (NANGOF), pointed out that women make up 52 per cent of the country's population, and that their voices therefore needed to fully acknowledged.

She said that as women prepared to take to the polls for the fourth national elections since Independence, they wouldn't be voting simply for the sake of voting, but being conscious of their rights and the policies and legislation to which Namibia is party, they would hold politicians accountable for their work.

The parties present at the forum included the All People's Party (APP), the Congress of Democrats (CoD), the National Democratic Party (NDP), the Namibia Democratic Movement of Change (NDMC), Nudo, the Rally for Democracy and Progress (RDP), Swanu and the UDF.

Representatives of the eight parties present each stated their party's stance on some of the issues affecting women, and responded to a number of questions.

Margaret Mensah-Williams

From IPS News:

A teacher by profession, Mensah was the first woman in the legislature to assume a decision-making role in the Southern African country's Parliament when she was appointed deputy speaker.

Just a day after she was sworn in, Mensah presided over the male-dominated parliament without a glitch. The preparation was not easy though, and she didn't get much guidance from her male colleagues.

Namibia's legislature was almost completely male when Mensah was appointed Deputy Speaker in 1998. There were only two women in the legislature at the time.