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In November 2023, a small team from MCF visited partners in Windhoek, Namibia. This visit both successful and eye opening.  

Head of Advocacy, Rhiannon Faye McDonald, Partnership Manager Rushelle Reid and child protection consultant, Phil Baines were in Namibia from the 20th to 24th of November. The short deployment included meetings with our long established partners in Lifeline/Childline, Namibia and the One Economy Foundation along with a number of awareness raising activities and events designed to empower professionals to respond to victims in ways that do no further harm.  

We were proud to play a pivotal role in the activities that took place over the course of the week which was the most appropriate pre-cursor to the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Based Violence which commenced on November 25th.  Notable activities over the period included:  

• The launch of a research commissioned by the Office of the First Lady on the different experiences of victims of gender-based violence in Namibia.  Event was facilitated by the researcher and attended by key stakeholders including government ministers and the First Lady of Namibia. This event elevated the voices of victims and survivors to be heard by key stakeholders, allowing the taboo topic to be given a much needed spotlight in an effort to challenge norms and practices at a strategic level. The discussions were productive and encouraged frank and open conversations about child protection issues with those who have the power to make changes for the better within the country.   

• Elevating the voice of lived experience is at the core of the Marie Collins Foundation and we were pleased and honoured to attend an event hosted by the BeFree Campus for survivors of gender-based violence. This event which had therapeutic and good recovery themes, brought together survivors from within the city as well as from rural areas and included testimonials of overcoming significant challenges and trauma. The session was geared at empowering victims or survivors of gender-based violence to take back control, to highlight that they were not alone in their journey to recovery and to encourage the ethos of making difficult conversations commonplace so that other victims might also feel empowered to make disclosures and begin their recovery journeys.  

• MCF, in partnership with the One Economy Foundation, hosted a two-day seminar aimed at upskilling frontline professionals to respond more effectively to gender-based violence and Technology assisted child abuse (TACSA). Held at the lovely Avani Windhoek Hotel & Casino located in the heart of the capital, training was delivered to 45 participants from a range of disciplines including officers from the City Police and Namibia Police (NamPol), the office of the prosecutor general, correctional services, health, social care, and valued members from local NGOs.  With the limited time available to us, we embarked on a whistlestop tour of TACSA including an emphasis on the grooming process, offender methodologies, trauma, language and curating a professional response that does no further harm to victims. 

• Rhiannon our Head of Advocacy, appeared on the nationally syndicated Good Morning Namibia alongside Pefimbo Shipunda, senior social worker at One Economy Foundation. The segment emphasized the partnership between MCF and The One Economy Foundation alongside other existing partnerships in country. During this presentation, the multi-agency safeguarding training was highlighted including the importance of achieving the appropriate professional response to child abuse and improving the culture of working together. It brought the growing yet still taboo issue TACSA to the forefront of mainstream conversation as Good Morning Namibia is the second most popular national program following the local news.  

• We were happy to connect with established partners who graciously welcomed us into their places of work which allowed us to have a better appreciation of the work they do, the victims they interact with and support on a daily basis. We were stunned by the amazing work we witnessed and excited by the new relationships developed.  

This deployment was made possible by the support of Safe Online under the Global Protection Network 2 project. MCF is grateful for the financial support from Safe Online which allows us to carry out our mission across the globe. We are thankful to all we met in our deployments, the relationships we’ve reinforced and look forward to the continuation of our partnerships.