Category: General

The chairperson of the Delivery Room Foundation, Elago Nantana has encouraged men to speak up and seek assistance when things get tougher in order to curb suicide among men in the country.

“No matter how tough life gets, we must never surrender,” Nantana said in an interview with Nampa at the Windhoek Industrial and Agricultural Show (WIAS) on Thursday.

According to statistics released by Health and Social Services Minister Kalumbi Shangula during the commemoration of World Suicide Prevention Day in September, Namibia lost 623 lives to suicide between August 2022 and June 2023, with 511 of these individuals being men.

September is suicide prevention month and this year’s theme is ‘Creating Hope Through Action’.

Nantana said the Delivery Room Foundation, a spiritual and mental non-profit foundation for men and boys, has found that a major contributor to suicide amongst men is pride.

Nantana noted that men are ashamed of revealing the challenges they face, while women show signs before attempting to commit suicide, such as depression.

He said many Namibians do not understand the difference between mental health and having a mental illness, adding that mental health is misinterpreted as being ‘crazy,’ which often results in shame and prevents people from seeking the necessary medical attention they require.

Nantana said his office receives about 50 visits from people seeking mental health solutions weekly, and what they have found is that many of the men who come in struggle with problems that are exacerbated by their sense of pride.

“Men are afraid to be judged and to be laughed at because of not being able to provide for his family, hence making him feel useless and worthless,” he said.

Nantana said one of the methods the foundation has used in the past to create awareness in the past was walking from Oranjemund to Zambezi and from Otavi to Oshikango. They tried to educate specifically men on mental health and the precautions they should take when going through challenges.

Meanwhile, Shangula said that among the suicides, 3.2 per cent were youth with the suicide rate standing at 21 per 100 000 population. The highest number of suicides were experienced in the Omusati, Oshikoto and Hardap regions.

“These numbers confirm that suicide is a major public health concern in Namibia and must serve as a call to action to prevent further incidences of suicide,” the minister said.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency

The Day of the Namibian Child for the Omaheke Region was celebrated at Leonardville in the Aminuis Constituency on Thursday under the theme ‘The Right of the Child in a Digital Environment’.

The day is celebrated every year on 28 September since the year 2000 and is used to honour the worth of every Namibian child and assess the progress in meeting the commitments of the Ministry of Gender Equality, Poverty Eradication and Social Welfare.

Chief Education Officer at the Omaheke Region Education Directorate Theofilus Mokhatu in his speech representing the region’s Director of Education, Arts and Culture Constance Wantenaar, encouraged parents and all stakeholders to monitor what children are doing online.

“Be aware of what children are doing online, avoid posting images of children with school uniforms, badges and numbers. Encourage the child to have hobbies outside the internet, and educate yourself on safety features of devices and platforms,” he said on Wantenaar’s behalf.

Children are a vulnerable group in society and they too are present online, their rights should accordingly be protected online, to an even greater extent because of the inherent risk which comes with the digital world, she stressed.

She further emphasised that although the digital environment has benefits as learners can now be educated through different online platforms, the internet also may expose children to many risks and they have to be vigilant.

“Explore and research how a device works before making use of it, turn off your location if not needed, and do not share personal information such as date of birth, age and nationality. Do not post or share content that will cause harm to the next person,” she warned.

In the speech of the Minister of Gender Equality, Poverty Eradication and Social Welfare Doreen Sioka which was read by Omaheke Governor Pijoo Nganate, Sioka emphasised that the Namibian child day finds its roots in the unwavering commitment of the Namibian government of upholding the rights of children.

“It is our collective responsibility as responsible adults to ensure that children have equal and safe access to the wealth of knowledge and resources available online,” she said.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency

Minister of Peace Benalf Andualem expressed the commitment of Ethiopia to work with all governmental and non-governmental stakeholders to counter illegal trafficking in persons and smuggling of migrants.

The Ethiopia Delegation led by Minister of Peace Benalf Andualem, is currently participating in the 20th Palermo Convention discussing about Trafficking persons and smuggling of migrants held in Palermo Italy.

In presence of many governmental and non-governmental institutions, 20th Palermo convention Ministerial conference is discussing the current status of the Palermo convention and protocols on trafficking in persons and smuggling of migrants.

During the occasion, Peace Minister Bnalf Andualem highlighted the policy frameworks, institutional arrangements and corrective measures that Ethiopia has been taking to control trafficking in persons and smuggling of migrants as it is the origin, transit and destination of migrants in the Horn of Africa.

The Minister also expressed the commitment of Ethiopia to work with all governmental and non-governmental stakeholders to counter illegal trafficking in persons and smuggling of migrants.

Source: Ethiopian News Agency

UNICEF Representative to Ethiopia has vowed his organization would advocate for the resumption of food aid to refugees.

Director General of Refugees and Returnees Service(RRS)Teyiba Hassen discussed with UNICEF Representative to Ethiopia, Aboubacar Kampo, on matters of mutual concern.

Teyiba also briefed Kampo how complete food aid suspension has been miring the lives of refugees and underlined on the need to voice to the international community and donors as the decision is depriving persons of concern the right to live, according to Refugees & Returnees Service (RRS).

The director general commended the representative for UNICEF’s support to persons of concern and called on the need to further ties between the two institutions.

The two sides also had candid discussion and agreed to work together on several initiatives, including the health service at Bokh refugee site.

The representative told the director general that his Fund would advocate for the resumption of food aid and vowed to bolster its intervention in the areas of water, sanitation and health.

Source: Ethiopian News Agency

Construction of the Koysha Hydro Electric Power Station, which is under construction on the Omo River in the South Western Ethiopia Region, has reached 61 percent completion.

A group of journalists from local media organizations visited the ongoing construction activities of the project.

Deputy head of the project Engineer Abayneh Getaneh said the dam, which is under construction on the Omo River, will have an installed capacity of 1,800 Megawatts.

He explained that the project will be equipped with 6 turbines, each generating 300 megawatts, and construction of the turbine house and ventilation is underway.

the Deputy head noted that the civil work of the project, which started in 2016, is now 52 percent complete, the dam reinforcement has reached 30 percent, the ventilation 13 percent, and the electromechanical work is under study.

Overall the project completion has reached 61 percent, Engineer Abayneh confirmed.

He added that the project has created jobs for five thousand people and is making a great contribution to the transfer of knowledge and technology.

When the Koysha Hydroelectric Project is completed, an artificial lake of 130 kilometers long and 200 square kilometers in area will be created, it was noted.

Koysha Hydroelectric Project Manager, Engineer Eugenio ZOPPIS said the project is contributing in terms of knowledge and technology transfer in addition to job opportunities.

The State Minister of Government Communication Services, Selamawit Kassa, on her part said Koisha is one of the mega projects that have been around for a long time and have great significance.

However, she added that currently the construction of the hydropower project is well underway due to the special attention given to it by the government as part of the on going reform measures.

Selamawit further stated that the project includes national parks which are endowed with potential natural resources vital for tourist destinations. According to her, the artificial lake impounded behind the dam will increase the flow of tourists.

On the other hand, the project will connect the local community with the infrastructure networks and make the local products, including vegetables and fruits, accessible to the market, she said.

According to the State Minister, the government of Ethiopia has given a great deal of attention to Koysha Hydroelectric Project. She also affirmed that works are well underway to complete the project within short period of time.

Ethiopia has some of the richest fresh water resources in Africa by volume, distributed across eight major basins with an exploitable hydropower potential of 45,000 MW.

To help address the energy deficit, the government has developed large hydropower projects along the country’s major river basins.

This includes the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) which once completed will be the largest hydroelectric power plant in Africa and the recently-completed 1,870 MW Gibe III project.

Experts say that Ethiopia has the capacity and capabilities to become a great energy exporter within the region, which could benefit also the neighboring countries.

Source: Ethiopian News Agency

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has arrived in Jimma, Oromia region for a review of projects under development.

According to Office of the Prime Minister, the premier has been accompanied by First Lady Zinash Tayachew and Federal and Regional leadership.

Source: Ethiopian News Agency

Traditional leaders representing communities in Aminuis of the Omaheke Region said they will stop at nothing to ensure that the uranium mining project planned for their area gets off the ground.

This is a departure from the initial opposition to a Russian entity that has been granted a uranium exploration licence to prospect for uranium in the vicinity of Leonardville and the communal areas of the Aminuis constituency.

The drilling activities by Uranium One are on hold after the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Land Reform withdrew the drilling permits after community members opposed the project, citing the danger of contaminating the underground water.

They expressed concern that their only source of water in the area, the Stampriet aquifer, may be contaminated as a result of the proposed mining technique.

The company has been drilling boreholes to take samples for laboratory tests.

Uranium One has reassured the community that it is going to use the in-situ recovery (ISR) method to extract uranium underground.

On Thursday, representatives of eight traditional authorities from Aminuis called on the government to take an interest in the Aminuis uranium mining project and ensure that it gets off the ground.

This came after their representatives visited the Dalur mining operation in eastern Russia to familiarise themselves with the ISR mining method.

Speaking of the visit to Russia, Senior Councillor for the Ovaherero Traditional Authority, Gustav Kasuto, said the delegation went to observe the mining activities and report back to their respective communities on the way forward. He said the community leaders approached Uranium One to facilitate the visit to Russia.

Kasuto described the visit as an eye-opener to the traditional leaders and said that they are in support of Uranium One using the ISR mining method.

“There is no hesitation that the proposed method to extract uranium can be classified as safe and sustainable. If an advanced, developed country like Russia can prove that the method is sustainable and profitable, the delegation can only support Uranium One in its endeavour to pursue its efforts to start its operations.

“And Aminuis cannot be the only exception to the rule and deny its people future benefits that can be derived from this opportunity,” Kasuto said while reading the joint statement.

Headspring Investment, a subsidiary of Uranium One, has eight EPLs to prospect for uranium deposits in the vicinity of Leonardville and the communal areas of the Aminuis constituency.

Kasuto, who is the deputy chairperson of the Aminuis Traditional Authorities Committee, stressed that the government has been quiet on the Aminuis uranium project.

“We are appealing to the government to take a keen interest in this issue because the government, except for the withdrawal of the licence, has been very quiet. We want them to come out and take a stance. What does the ministry of mines think, and what does the ministry of agriculture think? We want them to show a keen interest and guide us on the way forward,” he said.

Chief Andreas Kaiser of the Bakagadhi Ba Namibia said the uranium project brings economic opportunities to Aminuis and the Omaheke Region as a whole.

“For many years, we just believed that farming was the only economic activity in the Omaheke region. Fortunately, now we are sitting on top of minerals and really, these minerals can be put to good use,” said Kaiser, who chairs the committee.

The traditional leaders said they are now going to report back to their respective communities and are expected to send their report to Parliament.

With regard to the way forward, Uranium One’s director of operations and mining engineer, Aldo Hengari, told Nampa that the company plans to get everybody on board, including the government.

“The way forward is for us to find alignment with all the affected parties, together with the government, so that we get the right documents in place that were taken from us and then we start with exploration, and simultaneously, with test mining,” Hengari said.

The company has an environmental clearance certificate and is now trying to acquire a clearance certificate for the test mining, he said.

The company has already covered 50 per cent of exploration, which indicates the existence of around 75 000 tonnes of uranium that can be mined for 25 years.

“It is not like we are trying to force this process. We want to use all the technical data that we are collecting to guide us on the way forward. But should we foresee that it is not going to be safe, of course we will not proceed with the project,” Hengari said.

Source: The Namibia Press Agency