Legal empowerment for San community
The Legal Assistance Centre (LAC) yesterday launched a project that aims to empower the marginalised San community with access to legal services.
The 'Empowering the San: Legal Capacity Building for Human Rights Access' project, in partnership with the European Union (EU), hopes to train indigenous San people as paralegals and set up legal mobile clinics close to their communities across the country.
"We want to empower the San community to speak by themselves for themselves,” LAC's land and environment coordinator Corinna van Wyk said.
The three-year project will bring about significant change with the involvement of the San people and relevant stakeholders, which will allow them to exercise their fundamental human rights and protect their unique cultural heritage, she said.
Van Wyk added that the project will shed light on how important it is that the voices of indigenous people, like the San community, are heard.
"In an independent Namibia, the San remain one of the poorest and most marginalised communities with very little access to public services and minimal respect for their culture."
The paralegals will be equipped with relevant legal expertise, enabling them to provide essential support, advice and guidance to their fellow community members, Van Wyk said.
Collaborative efforts
EU ambassador to Namibia, Ana Beatriz Martins, said the project will only be a success with the support and collaboration of various stakeholders - including the San people, the Office of the Prime Minister, the Office of the Ombudsman, and other government actors.
"In the 33 years since Namibia's independence, the San people have faced profound challenges - challenges that have been painstakingly documented in two comprehensive studies carried out by the LAC and published in 2001 and 2014 respectively, as well as documented in further assessments.
“The challenges the San people face are multi-faceted,” she said, listing land dispossession, discrimination, socioeconomic marginalisation and loss of their cultural heritage as examples.
“Despite the efforts that have been made to address some of these challenges, more work is needed to improve the human rights situation for the San population in Namibia and to ensure that their rights and dignity are upheld," Martins said.
The 'Empowering the San: Legal Capacity Building for Human Rights Access' project, in partnership with the European Union (EU), hopes to train indigenous San people as paralegals and set up legal mobile clinics close to their communities across the country.
"We want to empower the San community to speak by themselves for themselves,” LAC's land and environment coordinator Corinna van Wyk said.
The three-year project will bring about significant change with the involvement of the San people and relevant stakeholders, which will allow them to exercise their fundamental human rights and protect their unique cultural heritage, she said.
Van Wyk added that the project will shed light on how important it is that the voices of indigenous people, like the San community, are heard.
"In an independent Namibia, the San remain one of the poorest and most marginalised communities with very little access to public services and minimal respect for their culture."
The paralegals will be equipped with relevant legal expertise, enabling them to provide essential support, advice and guidance to their fellow community members, Van Wyk said.
Collaborative efforts
EU ambassador to Namibia, Ana Beatriz Martins, said the project will only be a success with the support and collaboration of various stakeholders - including the San people, the Office of the Prime Minister, the Office of the Ombudsman, and other government actors.
"In the 33 years since Namibia's independence, the San people have faced profound challenges - challenges that have been painstakingly documented in two comprehensive studies carried out by the LAC and published in 2001 and 2014 respectively, as well as documented in further assessments.
“The challenges the San people face are multi-faceted,” she said, listing land dispossession, discrimination, socioeconomic marginalisation and loss of their cultural heritage as examples.
“Despite the efforts that have been made to address some of these challenges, more work is needed to improve the human rights situation for the San population in Namibia and to ensure that their rights and dignity are upheld," Martins said.
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