FLON defends One Economy Foundation

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The First Lady of Namibia (FLON), Monica Geingos, has defended the One Economy Foundation, saying it must be judged based on the work it does for society rather than on the individuals associated with it.

Speaking at the foundation’s annual fundraising gala dinner here on Friday, Geingos said Namibians have a tendency of criticising the foundation based on the actions of individuals associated with it, conflicting and overshadowing its mandate.

Geingos explained that the foundation’s volunteer programme attracts approximately 400 talented volunteers, without whose influence can deservingly be appointed for any opportunity in Namibia.

“People must judge us on the output and what we do because we are not responsible for individuals’ actions, good or bad. There is a tendency in this country to conflate things. When someone I know gets some big tender or has been appointed for a position, its Monica’s influence,” she said.

FLON explained that the foundation has been involved in various project interventions to meaningfully address social welfare and provide opportunities between the first and second economy through evidence-based interventions, especially for young people.

Highlighting some of the projects, she pointed to entrepreneurship and enterprise development programmes, which provide access to collateral-free business loans and capacity building through training and mentorship.

The Talented Individual Programme (TIP), a fellowship which provides 28 high potential learners from low-income backgrounds with an all-encompassing support system for excellence in and outside of school.

Equally, the foundation has a programme against sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), which seeks to provide SGBV survivors with centres, multi-disciplinary prevention and response services including therapeutic, vulnerable witness support and case management.

“Through our programmes, we aim to have a full representation of society. We don’t consider colour, ethnicity, political or age limit. We believe that you cannot have skewed development when addressing the needs of people, hence, everyone in society can benefit from all the programmes,” she noted.

Geingos noted that the foundation currently has N.dollars 20 million, but that it needs at least N.dollars 40 million to execute all its programmes fully.

On Friday N.dollars 2.4 million was raised at the first of the three annual fundraising gala dinners.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency