Probono 89 – Good Governance
Good Governance is the process of evaluating public institutions’ ability to manage resources, conduct public affairs, and ensure that human rights are largely realized free from abuse and corruption and with proper respect for the rule of law. Good governance in a democratic republic such as Namibia will not pass muster if the rule of law is not respected. The three branches of the government of the Republic of Namibia must always uphold the rule of law.
Article 1 of the Namibian Constitution states that Namibia is a democratic republic in which all power shall vest in the people. This power is exercised through the institutions of the state, namely the executive, the legislature and the judiciary. More…
Probono 90 – Women and Elections
In a parliamentary democracy like Namibia, all power shall be vested in the people through freely elected representatives exercising this power. 51 % of Namibia’s population are women who still face many injustices based on their gender. Namibia has a long history of many types of social inequality including gender inequality. Many challenges women face in Namibia today have been influenced by the historical imbalance of power between women and men, social structural factors such as poverty, unemployment and related social problems. This includes, among others, economic inequalities like no acknowledgement of unpaid domestic work women disproportionately often do in their households, being exposed to gender-based violence, or being single mothers without any or insufficient support from the children’s fathers. More…
4 February 2024
The Legal Assistance Centre hereby expresses its sincere condolences to the family of President Dr. Hage G Geingob who passed in the early hours of today.
As the Chairperson of the Constituent Assembly responsible for drafting the Namibian Constitution we remain grateful for his input into one of the most progressive Constitutions in the world. And this will never be forgotten.
We wish the family strength and peace in this very difficult time.
Rest well, Mr President.
Sincerely
From the trustees and staff
Legal Assistance Centre
Congratulations to the winners of our 2023 Wildlife Crime Comic Competition
1st place, Ontana Combined School from the Oshikoto Region, with its comic titled: “Water Smuggling: The borehole water business councillor” by Naftal Amupolo, winning 30.000,- N$ in kind for his school.
Naftal also created a video together with his school’s principal Mr Ifugula, to demonstrate how water is withdrawn from a borehole or well.
2nd place, Onguti Senior Secondary School, Oshikoto Region, with its comic titled: “Illegal fishing”; by Edward David and Johannes Jonas, winning 15.000,-N$ in kind. (Photos will be added.)
3rd place, Delta Secondary School Windhoek, from Khomas, with its comic titled “Save the Pangolins”, produced by the EcoClub of the school, winning 5000,- N$ in kind.
Announcing the winners, the director of the LAC, Ms Toni Hancox, stated:
“I want to congratulate the winning schools. I am very happy about the quality of entries received overall. We have seen a big improvement when compared to last year’s entries and it gives me great hope that our learners are indeed advancing in environmental education.
We thank all schools for participating in this important project, and I hope we can continue with this competition in the years to come.”
The LAC received overall 53 entries, from 28 different schools, representing ten regions.
A wide area of topics were covered, ranging from poaching of various animal species, illegal wildlife trade, illegal fishing, illegal dumping of waste in the ocean, water pollution, illegal sand mining, deforestation, illegal fires, and littering.
The winning comics were selected based on originality, art, character, storyline, and the presence of any legal components.
We thank each school for encouraging children to participate in the competition and more importantly for instilling a desire to protect our environment.
The competition was funded by the LAC and Bread for the World (BfdW).
1 December 2023: NAPWU Recognition
On Friday the LAC signed a Recognition Agreement with the Namibia Public Workers Union (NAPWU). We look forward to working with the union in the spirit of cooperation and respect.
20 November 2023 – Research, Science and Technology Act
(In the Namibian, by Werner Menges)
The minister of education must ask Namibia’s parliament to repeal and replace several sections of the Research, Science and Technology Act that were the subject of a constitutional challenge in the High Court. The Legal Assistance Centre announced this already in 2014 .
This is following in terms of a settlement agreement signed by lawyers representing the Legal Assistance Centre’s Legal Assistance Trust, the company Free Press of Namibia, which is the publisher of The Namibian, the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR), the minister of education, the National Commission on Research, Science and Technology, the attorney general and the president on 30 October. Read more
PRESS RELEASE: Empowering the San: Legal Capacity building for Human Rights Access’ project launched
16 November 2023
The Legal Assistance Centre (LAC) is pleased to announce the launch of a new EU-funded project ‘Empowering the San: Legal Capacity building for Human Rights Access’ on 15 November 2023. The project is funded by the European Union with EUR 330,000 (approximately 6.5 million Namibian Dollars), and implemented by the Legal Assistance Centre, in collaboration with other relevant stakeholders. The project will run for a period of three years. More…
A new comic by the LAC: Troubled Waters: Coastal protection, communities, and constitutional commitments
With funding from the Hanns Seidel Foundation in Namibia, the LAC is pleased to announce a new comic publication by the LAC’s Land, Environment and Sustainable Development Department (LEAD), which enriches the pool of Educational resources available in Namibia.
The story told is fictional. This comic was produced within a wider project promoting democracy, the rule of law, peace and stability, good governance, and sustainable economic development.
With this publication we wish to engage with the general public, in particular the youth, about the relationship of local, (semi-)rural communities, their natural environment, biodiversity, and the necessity to ensure sustainable social and economic development based on natural resource capitalization.
Accelerated climate change, coupled with unsustainable resource extraction, social marginalization, and environmental destruction, is disrupting these interlinkages, threatening the social fabric of Namibia.
Often the voices of indigenous and local communities are ignored with top-down decision-making being imposed on (often marginalized) communities. As a result, the outcomes are ill-informed without reference to the direct needs of vulnerable people, who will pay the highest price for human-induced climate change effects. In light of the above, this publication wishes to promote the guarantee that indigenous and local communities are always given full information and participation with a meaningful voice in determining development needs or in decision making processes regarding policies and projects relevant for climate change adaptation strategies.
Active in more than 60 countries around the world, the Hanns Seidel Foundation (HSF) is a German non-profit organisation promoting democracy, good governance, the rule of law and anticorruption. Cooperating with its Namibian partners, such as the LAC, HSF also seeks to contribute to sustainable economic and social development, environmental sustainability, as well as climate adaptation and mitigation. The contents expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not purport to reflect the views and opinions of the HSF.
This comic may be freely copied for educational purposes, as long as the source is acknowledged.
