UN Association Launched

Nico Smit

31 May 2011

AIMING to build capacity and address issues of poverty, hunger, disease, and other challenges highlighted in the United Nations (UN) Millennium Development Goals (MDG) campaign, the United Nations Association in Namibia (UNA-Namibia) was launched on Saturday.

Speaking at the launch was the Speaker of the National Assembly, Theo-Ben Gurirab, also UN-Namibia’s patron, who said that “while UN associations around the world are not officially part and parcel of the United Nations system, many and particularly the resourceful ones are central to the ideals and programmes they are promoting globally in cooperation with the world body”.

UNA-Namibia’s mandate is to support the principles, goals and programmes of the UN and its agencies, while also aiming to educate, engage and mobilise Namibians in to promote and support the UN and its work.

Other objectives of UNA-Namibia include implementing programmes that address the needs of children and the youth, as well as ensuring children’s empowerment.

Gurirab further identified supporting existing structures that aim to erase all forms of violence and the promotion of tolerance, mutual understanding, dialogue and cooperation among Namibians regardless of income, race, ethnicity, sex, language, gender, social orientation and health status as objectives of UNA-Namibia.

In terms of technical backing and other forms of support, the United Nations Association of Canada is the force behind the establishment of the sister organisation in Namibia.

The Speaker of the National Assembly made a call to UNA-Namibia to concentrate on education, healthcare, human shelter and other social needs that affect the well-being of women, children, HIV-AIDS patients, the disabled and elderly citizens.

UNA-Namibia’s key project is called Sport-in-a-Box, and the organisation has partnered with UNA-Canada to introduce the programme in all 13 regions in Namibia.

Based on the 2005 UN statement that it would devote a full year to the power of sport and physical education, the programme relies on this power of sport as a vehicle to promote health, education, development and peace.

Some of the primary goals of the International Year of Sport and Physical Education (IYSPE) are to promote the concept of inclusion so that groups marginalised on the basis of race, religion, gender, sex, disability, social and health status can experience equality and freedom.

The initiative aims to provide improved sport coaching for primary school pupils, while also encouraging and developing youth leadership.

UNA-Namibia has its headquarters in Windhoek, and aims to establish 13 branches across the country.

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