By Magreth Nunuhe
WINDHOEK – In the last few years, Namibia has seen a new generation of female leaders rising to positions of power despite a range of socially constructed gender roles that have kept them in the shadow of their male counterparts for long.
One such phenomenal woman is Naita Hishoono who has just been appointed as the Executive Director of Namibian Institute for Democracy (NID) as from 1 January 2015.
She attributes her climbing up the ladder to an enabling working environment where she had good mentors and says that as a single mother of two, her job introduced flexible working hours so that she could do her work with passion while at the same time being able to take good care of her children.
“How can women climb up the (corporate) ladder without making it possible for them to cope with children and career?” she asked, saying in most companies or institutions, the human resource departments do not consider single mothers’ situations.
Hishoono says she supports DTA president McHenry Venaani’s insistence that single mothers with more than one child, who earn less than N$2 000 per month should be given a monthly grant and further suggests that government must introduce tax breaks for single mothers.
She says men manage well in careers because in many instances the burden of raising a child is placed on the shoulders of a woman.
She says men are normally not scrutinised through the same thick lens as women to see if they are capable and adds that when a woman is considered for a top job, it is usually asked if she is not too young or whether she is a mother.
“If men can be mediocre, why can women also not be mediocre? How many men have made mistakes? Why are they afraid that women will make mistakes?” she asks.
Hishoono says that women have also headed some of the strongest military forces in Europe and Asia and men should appreciate that females add immense value to society.
She reckons that programmes such as Black Empowerment Enterprise (BEE) have been implemented to create an enabling environment for the formerly disadvantaged and everyone needs to be assisted to reach for the top.
Hishoono, speaks four languages, Oshiwambo, Afrikaans, English and German and has received many fellowships and academic awards.
Her previous jobs include working as a journalist, radio announcer and producer and television producer at various media outlets in Namibia and in Germany.
She started working for NID in 2006 as a programme manager until her recent appointment as executive director.