AIDS and Rights Alliance for Southern Africa (ARASA) requires an HIV/AIDS and Human Rights Training Co-ordinator. Closing date is 15th April, 2007

AIDS & RIGHTS ALLIANCE FOR SOUTHERN AFRICA (ARASA) requires a Advocacy Programme Co-ordinator. Closing date is 15th April.

Namibia has purchased two commercial farms near the Etosha National Park on behalf of a tribe of bushmen who were evicted from their ancestral lands inside the famed game reserve 100 years ago, a minister said.

Leakages of highly toxic sewerage water from the Rundu Sewerage Ponds may in the near future cause the contamination of the Kavango River. Black sewerage water gushing out from these ponds and flowing downstream into the river may pose a serious health hazard for the people in the Kavango as well as the neighbouring countries of Angola and Botswana.

Climate change and the need for alternative energy sources in southern Africa have led experts to develop a new technology to produce electricity with a so-called green tower. The tower is more than one kilometre high and collects hot air sucked up through its chimney, causing large turbines at its base to rotate and generate power.

A potentially explosive document related to the Caprivi, which the Swapo Party has persisted in saying does not exist, has suddenly surfaced in Namibia. Compiled over 40 years ago and signed by former President Sam Nujoma, it describes the merger in the 1960s of Swapo and a political party led by Caprivi secessionist Mishake Muyongo.

Cultural practices in Namibia are hampering the "ABC" HIV-prevention strategy - which stands for abstinence until marriage, be faithful and use condoms -members of the Women's Leadership Centre in Windhoek, Namibia, said. According to The Namibian/AllAfrica.com, dry sex, female genital cutting, initiation ceremonies for women that involve sex and "unorthodox treatment often administered by traditional healers" are practiced in Namibia.

Twenty-three Namibian refugees who arrived in Botswana in 1998 were voluntarily repatriated to Namibia early Saturday (18 November 2006) morning at the Dukwi Refugee camp. The Namibians mostly from the Caprivi region and the surrounding areas sought political asylum in Botswana in 1998 after an unpleasant political situation in the region.

Margnalised San communities living in the Tsumkwe West area are in danger of losing a proclaimed conservancy area of 10 000 square kilometres. Plans are in the pipeline to carve up the area into small-scale farms for resettlement. During a recent visit to Tsumkwe, Lands Minister Jerry Ekandjo told people that Government planned to push ahead with the smallscale farming project, sparking widespread concern that people from other rural areas might be settled there.

Corruption is making inroads in Namibia, according to an international report released in Germany. According to Transparency International (TI), a civil society organisation which aims to fight corruption globally, Namibia has dropped eight places - to 55 - on an international corruption index this year, a ranking it shares with the South American country of Costa Rica.

The Malaysian textile company, Ramatex, has bowed to industrial action by Namibian workers demanding better wages and benefits, while its environmental practices again came under scrutiny after revelations that its multimillion dollar plant has polluted ground water.

More than one-fifth of all violent crimes in Namibia occurs in the context of domestic relationships. Due to this finding, which forms part of the Legal Assistance Centre, research on the implementation of the Combating of Rape Act and the Combating of Domestic Violence Act that is still underway, the LAC feels that if domestic violence is eliminated from society, women will be significantly safer from this crime.

The Namibian San are living lives of poverty and dislocation. While different San peoples face different situations, there is a depressing common core to their poverty. It begins with being landless, often on their own land. Government policies since Independence, some well meant, some ignorant of San needs, have not helped.

A recent draft health assessment of women's health in three regions of Namibia where the HIV prevalence rate is high has identified six diseases including HIV/AIDS, sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and cancers as priority health issues affecting women. The Community Assessment of Women's Health care in Namibia, carried out in Khomas, Caprivi and Kavango was done on women who are HIV-positive and negative, untested women, community leaders and service providers during which it found that HIV, STIs various cancers, high blood pressure and tuberculosis are the most pressing of health issues that the women face.

The informal economic sector in Namibia should not be ignored, as it provides income for at least 133 000 people, most of them self-employed, says a new study. More than half are women, who comprised 53,1 per cent of the 488 people in six regions interviewed by the Labour Resource and Research Institute (LaRRi).

"God looked at my work and he was pleased. But when he looked at my salary, he wept," says the computer-generated poster in Norbert Booi's office at A. Shipena Secondary School, a government school in Windhoek's oldest suburb, Katutura. The poster speaks volumes about what is going through the English teacher's head as he pages through the classified sections of the 'Republikein', one of Namibia's three daily newspapers.

The numbers of rape and attempted rape cases since independence to 2005, have more than doubled, making it the most serious form of crime currently being committed in Namibia, the Legal Assistance Centre (LAC) has said. Statistics taken from research the LAC is conducting on the 'Implementation of the Combating of Rape Act and Combating of Domestic Violence Act' indicate that rape cases recorded in 1991, which were 564, increased to 854 in 2000 and went up to 1 184 in 2005.

Since last year, the Namibian education system has lost an alarming number of teachers to the HIV/AIDS pandemic and indications are that more deaths are expected within the next few years from the illness. This shocking revelation was made by the Namibia National Teachers Organization (Nantu) yesterday at a meeting to discuss the impact of HIV/AIDS on the education system in the country. A number of selected teachers attended the crucial meeting in the capital.

Despite a gradual tangible economic upswing of 3,2 % in the country since independence, workers still do not reap the proper fruits of their daily labour.

Rising levels of unemployment and poverty are hindering Namibia's development, a human rights watchdog said in its annual review, published this month. The National Society for Human Rights (NSHR) said in its 240-page report covering August 2005 to July 2006 that respect for human rights had deteriorated.