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Namibia: Women Plan Special March
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New Era (Windhoek)
5 November 2007
Posted to the web 5 November 2007
Petronella Sibeene
Windhoek
It will be all colour along independence avenue when hundreds of Namibian women from all walks of life for the first time ever stage a "Women's Celebratory March" in the capital.
The march is planned as an acknowledgement and celebration of the brilliance, dynamism and numerous achievements of women in various work sectors.
Planned for Wednesday November 21, and organised by the Women's Action for Development (WAD), the various sectors to be represented during the march include those in decision-making positions, the navy, nurses, teachers, the army, the air force, the police force, prisons, commercial banks, the clergy, the NGO fraternity, the media, road wor-kers and street sweepers, among others. WAD Executive Director Veronica de Klerk says this is an honorary "Uniformity March" for women, portraying unity among women in uniform. The march will also show Namibia the various sectors which women have successfully penetrated as they strive to contribute to the economic wellbeing of the country.
"For WAD this is a most exciting initiative to celebrate and showcase how women have fought their way against many odds, into every facet of human activity in Namibia," she said. For years, women all over the world have been oppressed but their perseverance and determination have proved that they have what it takes to feature where their male compatriots feature.
De Klerk says the march "is an acknowledgement and celebration of the brilliance, dynamism and numerous achievements of women, in having taken up positions in all sectors of society, despite numerous prejudices facing them to be an accomplished workforce".
Participating women will meet at the Kudu statue in Independence Avenue and proceed to Parliament gardens where prominent Namibian leaders are scheduled to address them. The march will precede the official opening of the WAD Annual Conference in Parliament Gardens in the capital on the same morning.
Various cultural groups are expected to perform as women will celebrate their victories in society. De Klerk explained that the envisaged march will not be a demonstration by dissatisfied female employees petitioning their employers for improvement in working conditions as is so often witnessed in the Namibian society. It will instead be a march portraying joy, pride and excitement by women to sensitize the public of all the spheres of society in which women play a meaningful role as a competent workforce, and that the time has come for gender equality in all sectors of the Namibian society to become a reality.
While Government has made strides in ensuring that there is gender balance in the country, WAD believes such efforts should be duly acknowledged. De Klerk said while there are offices in the private and public sectors where gender balance among employees is still distorted in favour of men, Government should ensure that such institutions are coerced into getting their houses in order, because gender bias deprives the country of measurable progress.
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Institutions are urged to register as soon as possible as there is a limited number of seats available at Parliament Gardens.
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