From 16 to 365 Days of Action.

Namibia recently became the second SADC country to endorse the 365 Days of Action to End Gender Violence Campaign and to develop a national action plan aimed at reducing gender based violence. The 365 Days of Action developed out of the 16 Days Campaign with similar aims.

Over the past few years, several countries in the region have taken part in the 16 Days Campaign. Namibia's 2005 campaign was one of the most successful in the region, receiving international acclaim for its work. The Gender and Media Southern Africa Network (GEMSA) therefore decided to build on Namibia's efforts and move from 16 days of activism to the all-year campaign. According to GEMSA CEO, Kubi Rama, "With the 365 Days of Action we can measure the impact of our strategies, maintain a continuous focus on the delivery of the different aspects of gender justice, and develop an organised response that carries us throughout the year."

In early July, more than twenty anti-violence and gender activists gathered in Windhoek for a workshop organised by the national chapter of GEMSA. They came together for three days to examine the existing environment with regard to women and their right to live in dignity and peace. The participants utilised the Southern Africa Gender Justice Barometer, an audit of the measures taken by individual governments to end gender violence and advance the rights of women, as a basis for developing a national action plan.

The group recognised the government's passing of gender related laws, such as the Combating of Domestic Violence and Rape Acts, and the Married Persons Equality Act, as well as the ratification of international and regional instruments promoting gender equality. With this in mind, they decided to focus the majority of the action plan around the implementation of these laws.

The group also planned actions around making the criminal justice system more gender sensitive and on utilising the media to bring about a greater awareness and understanding of gender based violence. Some of the specific actions planned include media training on the representation and coverage of women, and engaging media managers to commit to the continuous coverage of gender based violence.

Part of this year's media awareness campaign will be the Namibian "I" Stories. The aim of this project is to give gender based violence a human face. Survivors and reformed perpetrators will share their personal stories, and the media will be encouraged to run these stories throughout the 16 Days Campaign. Hearing the voices of ordinary women and men, our brothers and sisters, our neighbours, will enable people to see just how deeply gender violence touches all of our lives, and will hopefully inspire empathy, compassion and understanding.

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Raising awareness around trafficking is also an envisaged action, following a revelation that most participants found disturbing. Many Namibians bring illiterate young women from their rural homesteads, or from their communal or commercial farms to the city, where they are 'employed' as domestic workers; receiving no salary except meals and lodging and maybe a small allowance for cosmetics. Most participants were shocked when Kubi Rama classified this as a form of human trafficking, because it is such an accepted and common practice in this country.

The draft includes not only the planned actions, but target groups, stakeholders, time frames, outputs and outcomes needed to bring about the utopia strived for in our constitution, laws, policies and conventions. The drafters aim to use the forthcoming 16 Days Campaign, which will still be held from 25th November, International Day of No Violence Against Women to 10th December, International Human Rights Day, to improve their plans and to develop new actions and targets if needed.

Kubi Rama did not commit to a time span for the 365 Days Campaign, noting that the end point would be when gender based violence is almost non-existent. However, she is optimistic that the new campaign will make a difference. "We have to believe that it is possible and cannot accept that gender based violence continues at the current levels. I believe we can make an impact and reduce the levels of violence against women," she asserted.

Judging from the spirit that prevailed during the workshop, she is not the only who believes.