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"My daughter asked me: Is this really the country you fought for?"
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Bience Gawanas"The problem is that there are currently “very many fragmented policies,” within the government. “If you look at the Ministry of Health, they talk about reducing maternal mortality while the Ministry of Education is talking about free education. It is disjointed on all sides,"
Bience Philomina Gawanas is a Namibian lawyer who served as Special Adviser on Africa for the United Nations from 2018 to 2020. She is Chancellor of University of Warwick, her British alma mater.
"My daughter asked me: Is this really the country you fought for?"
"I said to her: You might think this country is dry, but under the earth we have all the riches."
"That we did not have a Truth and Reconciliation process does not mean that racism does not exist anymore, that what happened in exile in the SWAPO refugee camps did not happen. I think those things are still simmering,"
"We do not have a strong opposition that serves as a checks and balance, and the same goes for civil society orgnisations,"
"“I, myself, am a product of African solidarity. Having left home in my teens during the war of liberation against apartheid in Namibia, I spent years in refugee camps in Angola and Zambia and benefitted immensely from the generosity of the Angolan and Zambian people. I want to take this opportunity to personally thank you for your big heart.”"
"The ADS is just one of several activities being organized throughout 2019 to raise global awareness of the challenge of forced displacement: “Africa is home to over 24 million forcibly displaced persons, representing one-third of the world’s total. Forced displacement is not only a tale of human tragedy, it also poses a real threat to achieving peace, prosperity and development.”"