Namibia Women’s Health Network (NWHN) is a community-based organization founded to empower those infected and affected by HIV and AIDS in Namibia. The organization was registered with the Ministry of Health and Social Services in 2007 by a group of fourteen women, all of whom participated in Parlimentarians for Women’s Health and all registerd members of the International Community of Women Living
with HIV/AIDS (ICW). The Namibia Women’s Health Network (NWHN) aims to provide information, education, skills, and capacity building to improve the health of Namibian women living with HIV and to empower them to become leaders at the local and national level. NWHN’s History
NWHN was founded in 2008 as a community-based organization to empower Namibian women infected and affected by HIV/AIDS. NWHN was created by 14 women living with HIV (WLHIV) who participated in Parliamentarians for Women’s Health, a project in five countries supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation from 2005 to 2008. The seeds for NWHN were born out of ICW Namibia, the Namibia branch of the International Community of Women Living with HIV/AIDS. The important work that came out of ICW Global and ICW Namibia caused us to realize the importance of having a Namibia-based organization that could work with the national and local government and civil society organizations to address the most pressing issues for HIV positive women in Namibia. A Growing Network
NWHN currently connects 1400 network members representing the 13 regions of Namibia and a steering committee of 26 young women, with two women representing each region.
* 700 older positive women between the ages 30 – 58
* 500 young positive between the ages 16 to 30
* 66 older women not infected but affected by HIV/AIDS
* 134 young women not infected or not knowing their status
Our Strategy
All of our program areas are built around a strategy to provide participants with:
* Accurate information on s*xual reproductive health, prevention of mother to child transmission, cancer of the cervix etc.
* Information on where to access services in connection with gender based violence.
* Education for English literacy, a skill necessary for communicating with health workers.
* Skills to sensitize community members, policy makers, and traditional leaders on issues affecting women living with HIV.
* Skills for income generating activities for self sustenance and building confidence to negotiate on safe s*x avoiding re/infection of STI’s, particularly HIV.
