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HIV and AIDS in Africa

Traditional Medicine  in Africa

Gender Issues in Africa

Introduction

The GTRP is an educational as well as research program within the MRCC at the University of Namibia. The MRCC was established in 1993 with a view to enabling UNAM to best serve the people of Namibia. The key mission of the MRCC is to "promote, conduct, and coordinate research; to provide consultancy, advisory, and other services to the community; to foster, in collaboration with UNAM's faculties, national and international NGOs, line ministries and relevant other centers, the transmission of the accumulated body of knowledge through teaching and research". 

The MRCC has a number of divisions, each of these with the stated mission of carrying out training and research with the aim of capacity building for Namibians in various fields such as economics, agriculture, planning and gender. Each division provides community service and support to local, regional and national CBOs and NGOs through various activities. Since its inception, the MRCC's staff members have been actively involved in numerous urban, regional and national research and training projects throughout Namibia. 

Ms Eunice Iipinge is the coordinator of the GTRP. Ms Iipinge has extensive research experience in gender issues and has conducted training for high level personnel in government, NGOs and the private sector. Ms Iipinge is responsible for coordinating research and writing activities, giving input into the analysis of gender sensitive issues and reviewing of all final documents.

Mr Michael Conteh is a researcher for the GTRP. Mr Conteh has recently received his Master of Arts in Development Studies with specialization in Women, Gender and Development from the Institute of Social Studies, Graduate School of Development Studies. He has extensive experience conducting research on gender issues in Namibia. In addition, he is responsible for coordinating training programs and workshops, attending training workshops and conferences, and participating in research and publications.

Dr. Debie LeBeau has been a senior researcher with the GTRP and, although she has recently relocated back to the Americas, she continues to be a resource person for the GTRP. Dr. LeBeau has been involved in several research and publication activities with the GTRP, including their publication series and the Beyond Inequalities publication series discussed below. She has also assisted in researching such various gender related topics as women's property and inheritance rights, as well as gender roles and HIV prevention.

Since 1995 the GTRP has carried out numerous gender-related training and research programs aimed at developing gender awareness at the local, regional and national levels. The GTRP has held several workshops on topics such as a Gender Perspective in Law and Violence, Gender and Food Security, and Gender Research Methodology. The GTRP has also carried out several research projects such as the National Gender Survey (1997-98) and Beyond Inequalities: Women in Namibia (1996-97 & 2003), as well as research on initiation rites in the Kavango (1998-99), sex workers in Walvis Bay (2000) and women's property and inheritance rights (2001-03). Moves towards sustainability of the GTRP can be seen in the demand for the GTRP to provide training as well as to initiate and undertake new research projects, which have been funded by local institutions as well as international donors.

Beyond Inequalities Series

Beyond Inequalities 2005: Women in Namibia by Eunice Iipinge & Debie LeBeau, with contributions by Grant J. Spence, Michael Conteh, Sayumi Yamakawa, Edith Dima and Andrew Niikondo

Beyond Inequalities: Women in Namibia (1997) by Eunice Iipinge & Debie LeBeau

This research conducted for the SARDC as part of a book series project on the social status of women in southern Africa. The Beyond Inequalities: Women in Namibia book was first published through the GTRP and SARDC in 1997 and was revised for publication in 2004/2005. 

Of specific note is the Second National Development Plan (NDP2): 2001/2002 - 2005/2006, the government's national review of sectoral developments and planning instrument, which lists the Beyond Inequalities book as one of only two national reference documents produced for the years 1995/1996-1999/2000.

These documents present data on a selection of gender characteristics and issues. They summarize information relating to the position of women from the analytical and strategic framework of autonomy, its principal element being physical, economic, political and socio-cultural. 

The National Gender Study: Volume I & Volume II by Eunice Iipinge, F.A. Phiri and A.F. Njabili
This study was the first nationwide gender study in Namibia and focused on perceptions of the public on gender issues. The study shows that people are born female and male, but learn girl-roles and boy-roles as they grow into women and men. People are taught culturally defined gender specific behaviors and attitudes, role activities and how they should relate to each other. This learned behavior is what makes up their identity and determines their gendered roles throughout their lives.

Women's Property and Inheritance Rights in Namibia by Debie LeBeau, Eunice Iipinge and Michael Conteh
This five region nationwide study on women's property and inheritance rights examines social-psychological forces that function to maintain women's lower social and economic position vis-à-vis men through the manipulation of material culture. The research found that one of the challenges faced by women in contemporary Namibian society is women's unequal access vis-à-vis men to property, which in turn limits women's ability to strive for gender equality within both their personal and social spheres of life. The lack of ability to manipulate property through the use, ownership and disposition of property limits women's economic choices and causes women to be economically dependent on men. The findings from this research have been utilized by government and policy makers to examine social and cultural contributing factors when drafting laws to protect women's rights to property. This was a collaborative project between the Department of Sociology, the GTRP at the University of Namibia (UNAM) and the Legal Assistance Centre (LAC), with funding from USAID. 

Structural Conditions for the Progression of the HIV/AIDS Pandemic in Namibia
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Towards the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour in Namibia
Read more about this publication
 

"Telling Their Stories": Commercial Sex Workers in Walvis Bay by the GTRP/UNAM
This is one of the first Namibian research projects on sex workers in Namibia. The research was conducted with sex workers from Walvis Bay, the main fishing port in Namibia. The stories and quotes, given directly in the sex workers' own words gives voice to those who are socially and economically marginalized in Namibian society and sheds light on the traumas of being a sex worker in an era of HIV/AIDS.
 

Gender & Development by Eunice Iipinge and Marlene Williams
This publication presents a series of papers given at a national workshop on gender and development issues in Namibia. Topical areas are diverse, as are the authors of the papers. This publication gives the reader a view into contemporary issues surrounding gender in Namibia.
 
 

Oral History Project: Documenting the Participation of Namibian Women in the Liberation Struggle: “Everybody can make history but only great person can write it”
Women's participation in Namibia's liberation struggle is widely acknowledged verbally and in written speeches. However, with a few exceptions, women's stories and contributions to the liberation struggle are not documented in a tangible manner. This pilot study and the data collection conducted by the GTRP is aimed at giving these women a voice through which to write about their participation in the liberation struggle so that their experiences can form part of Namibia's national heritage. The project is designed to record and interpret history through women's voices, as well as review and analyze the situation, condition and position of women in the hierarchy of the national liberation movement. The project prepares women to speak out and share their stories. It has empowers them to participate in the process of history building, and even question the process. Some women participated in the research as enumerators to ensure the redressing of gender inequalities in the production of history; thus, making Namibia's history more equitable.

Young Researchers' Programme
This program was aimed at training young Namibian men and women in gender-sensitive research methodologies. Eight young researchers have gone through all stages of training. A national workshop was organized where all the young researchers presented theirs research findings. The GTRP is in the process of publishing the resultant research papers as a book which will not only make available the findings of this research but will help to advance the careers of the participants who are currently employed in the government, NGOs and public interest research institutions.

Contact the GTRP
For further information and copies of GTRP publications relating to development in Africa contact:

Mrs. Eunice Iipinge, Coordinator (GTRP). Tel: 061- 2063951/2 Fax: 061-2063268