By Petronella Sibeene WINDHOEK Women’s Action for Development (WAD) has announced the appointment of new board members to replace former CCN General Secretary Rev. Nangula Kathindi and the former NAMCOL Director Frances Mensah-Ferreira who have since taken up promotional positions outside the country. The newly appointed members are Bishop Dr Zephania Kameeta of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Namibia and also an ambassador for the “Global Call to Action Against Poverty” in Namibia. Pro Vice-Chancellor of Academic Affairs and Research, Prof. Dr Osmund Mwandemele from the University of Namibia, Twapewa Mudjanima, an Entrepreneurial businesswoman and member of the President’s Economic Advisory Council (PEAC), and Rev. Phillip Strydom, the General Secretary of the Council of Churches in Namibia are other prominent personalities on WAD’s new Board of Directors. Anne Gebhardt, a member of the President’s Economic Advisory Council and Board Member of the National Planning Commission (NPC), is the new chairperson of the board. Executive Director of WAD, Veronica de Klerk, believes the involvement of more men on the board will put WAD on a new road to empowering men and women equally in its development programmes. The gender balance at board level now stands at 6 women and 5 men. According to De Klerk, the meaningful involvement of UNAM and the ongoing negotiations between the two institutions would enable rural people more access to the university, especially when it comes to agricultural projects. Rural people will be trained to produce mushrooms among other initiatives to be undertaken. She added that the presence of highly-placed clergy is significant as WAD will now be afforded easy access to churches across the country to train more meaningfully, and additionally to make use of the facilities of churches for training purposes. The appointment of Mundjanima, a young entrepreneur, says De Klerk, is deliberate because the need was identified for young, talented and energetic Namibians to serve on the board. “She (Mundjanima) has developed 11 different kinds Namibian products and is now exporting them to various international markets. This is the kind of dynamism we wish to see on the WAD board that can filter through to our members on the ground”, she said. The WAD Directors regard the inclusion of such visionary personalities on its Board as very timeous against the background of the organization’s wider focus to include greater numbers of young school-leavers in its development programmes. It is well known that large numbers of school-learners either pass Grade 12 or drop out of school without being adequately equipped for the labour market. Most of those consequently end up unemployed, highly frustrated and disillusioned, especially if they cannot secure a bursary or some financial assistance to enroll for tertiary education. The continuation of this situation, says De Klerk , does not augur well for the future of Namibia, and WAD therefore involves large numbers of school-leavers in its skills development training programmes to equip them with knowledge and competencies to be able to market their services to potential employers or start up own income-generating ventures. Based on that, the Executive Director added that it is clear that a great responsibility is placed upon the shoulders of the Board of Directors of WAD to contemplate the best possible policies and implementation strategies for the organization to render exceptional services to marginalized young people. “The WAD Board of Directors”, she said, “is highly honoured to welcome the aforementioned new reputable members to the WAD Board in view of their outstanding service to the Namibian nation and their wealth of experience with regard to the empowerment and upliftment of impoverished Namibians, coupled with their particular entrepreneurial knowledge”.