United Nations Information Centre (UNIC) in Windhoek visited the Holy Cross Covent Primary school in Windhoek to remind students about the lessons to be learnt from the Holocaust in order to prevent future acts of genocide. The Centre used the “Footprints for Hope Project” which utilizes a historical artifact, namely a shoe, to explore and enhance the understanding of the students. The shoe connects the students to the victims and their stories. The children compared the shoes that they brought along for the art project and compared it to the artifact. They remarked on its lack of color and noted that it was old fashioned.

A film was screened displaying some of the painful and graphic images from the holocaust, the shoes of the victims and the process of how they were asked to go for a “shower.” The pupils were shocked by what they saw and after the film, one young boy said, “I cannot believe so many people were killed.” The presentation was followed by an art project where the students used paint to illustrate a hopeful future. One of the girls painted her shoe with flowers and remarked that “I hope that when someone finds my shoe in one hundred years time, it will be a happy story of my life.” The students all agreed that they want their shoes to represent a hopeful future and as the next generation, they do not want to be silent and watch such atrocities happen.

Mrs Hoy, the class teacher, hung the holocaust posters and pictures in the classroom to serve as a constant reminder to the students to respect human rights and the dignity and worth of every person. The teacher liked the concept of the shoe and thanked the Centre for selecting their school to do outreach, she noted that, “despite living in such a globalised world, young children are not aware of historical moments that shaped the times we live in today” she was therefore thankful that the Centre placed such importance on the Holocaust Remembrance project.

St Paul’s College hosted an extracurricular day at their school to showcase the various after school activities learners can participate in.  The MUNNAM (Model United Nations Namibia) club at St Paul’s called on the support of UNIC Namibia to promote Model UN to the rest of the school. UNIC provided promotional material, banners, posters and flags to the club to decorate and set up a stall. In addition, the centre printed fact sheets and flyers promoting the MUN programme and explaining what exactly it entails. The advertisements to join MUN were well received, as the following week, the first club meeting was greeted with a host of boys and girls completely new to the programme and very excited to find out what it was all about.  The fair was a great success and sparked curiosity about the programme.

On 10 December, the United Nations Information Centre (UNIC) Windhoek highlighted the importance of Human Rights Day by reaching out to media houses in Namibia. 

UNIC organized a television feature with the UN Resident Coordinator as well as a pre-recorded radio interview and interview for the newspaper on Human Rights. 

Human Rights Day is a public holiday in Namibia in which case some of the interviews were scheduled prior to the day to raise awareness. A live radio discussion also took place about Human Rights Day in Namibia, how the day came into being and what it means for Namibians and the world at large. 

UNIC Director and Resident Coordinator Musinga T. Bandora also highlighted the campaign theme  “My voice counts” and the importance of the rights of all people. “Women, youth, minorities, persons with disabilities, indigenous people, the poor and marginalized – to make their voices heard, be included in decision making, and take part in political processes.” 

UNIC posted the campaign banner on the UNCT in Namibia’s website along with remarks on the importance of Human Rights Day.

From 28 to 29 November, the UN Information Centre (UNIC) in Windhoek organized a training workshop for University students and High School graduates to teach them how to be Model UN (MUN) trainers. 

The two-day seminar introduced the participants, most of whom were delegates or volunteers at the first two MUN conferences in Namibia in 2012, to the work of the United Nations. Based on their practical experience, the training focused establishing Model UN clubs at other schools to further expand the programme in Windhoek. 

The UNIC team put together a six-part handbook on how to train a Model UN club, which was discussed and practiced during the two-day training.

The handbook encompassed: an Introduction to the work of the UN; Rules of Procedure of Model UN; Practicing Rules of Procedure; Public Speaking; Research; and UN Resolution Writing. Each provided exercises that were practiced within the group. 

The workshop also included training on how to facilitate a Model UN club and chair a conference. The students were trained in order to assist UNIC Windhoek in expanding Model UN clubs into more schools; to offer the experience of UN decision-making in practice; and to participate in national and international conferences. 

The participants highly appreciated the training in public speaking and looked forward to training High School students and even starting Model UN at the tertiary level.