Addis Ababa, 4 October 2004 (ECA) – More than three
hundred representatives of non- governmental organizations gathered in Addis
Ababa this week to take stock of progress in African women’s lives since the
Beijing summit on women’s affairs ten years ago. The two-day ‘African Women’s
NGO Forum on Beijing +10′ opened Wednesday, kicking off a week of activities and
meetings [...]

The City of
Windhoek has approved the construction of a village for the terminally ill,
sufferers of HIV/AIDS and HIV/AIDS orphans in the Goreangab settlement, as well
as a pre-primary school for children with learning challenges. The applications
were approved last Wednesday at the monthly council meeting. The village is to
be build by the Hope Village Trust, founded by [...]

Gender
activists met with media practitioners in a two-day event this week in
Johannesburg, South Africa that was held under the banner Media diversity and
sustainability: Good for Business, Good for Democracy. The summit was a follow
up to the September 2004 gathering that brought together 184 media managers,
practitioners, NGOs and activists to debate research findings that show that
women [...]

NEW YORK – As
part of its recently announced campaign to educate consumers and the trade about
important diamond-related issues, the diamond industry announced last week the
launch of a new informational website, www.diamondfacts.org . Alongside the
campaign us a major advertising effort that includes full-page print ads in ten
major U.S. and international newspapers including The New York Times, [...]

‘Bread and
jam’ and ‘Rumour had it’ are two powerful monologues written by a team of six
young Namibians, which will be shown at the Franco-Namibia Cultural Centre
(FNCC) on 21 and 22 September. The Monologues address issues facing many young
people such as peer pressure, HIV/AIDS, verbal and physical abuse. Both are
directed by Philippe Talavera, director of Ombetja [...]

A breakfast
meeting organised by the Namibia Business Coalition on Aids (NABCOA) last week
looked at ways of initiating, implementing and monitoring HIV/Aids programmes.
The meeting also stressed the need to establish a strong basis for sustainable
Aids treatment in the country through a network of partnerships facilitating
access to basic health care and treatment for more people. According to [...]

The Association of
Diplomats’ Spouses will hold a fundraising luncheon at the Italian ambassador’s
residence in Klein Windhoek on 29 September, as the organisation intensifies its
efforts to fundraise for worthy causes. The organisation raises funds for the
disadvantaged, soup kitchens, the San people, women and children living with
HIV/AIDS. It also assists women living with HIV sell their handworks [...]

Thousands of
lives and billions of dollars could be saved every year if a fraction of the
funds pumped into major headline grabbing disasters were spent on minimising the
effects of natural and human-caused hazards such as floods, drought, cyclones
and others on vulnerable people the International Federation of Red Cross and
Red Crescent Societies said last week on the [...]

WASHINGTON – Nearly 30 years after phasing out the
widespread use of indoor spraying with DDT and other insecticides to control
malaria, the World Health Organization (WHO) last week announced that this
intervention will once again play a major role in its efforts to fight the
disease. WHO is now recommending the use of indoor residual spraying (IRS) not
only [...]

Fitch this week affirmed that Namibia’s ratings at foreign
currency Issuer Default ‘BBB-’ (BBB minus), local currency Issuer Default ‘BBB’
and Short-term foreign currency ‘F3′, saying these had stable outlooks. As a
member of the Common Monetary Area, the Country Ceiling which is ‘A’, was also
affirmed this week. “Namibia’s foreign currency IDR continues to be underpinned
by sound macroeconomic [...]