2nd National Conference on Orphans and Other ... - FHI 360

You are also debating the issue of who will
care for our OVC. I know many people believe
that placing children in institutions is the best
option. If you consider the numbers I have just
presented to you, you will be convinced that this
is not a viable option. There is no better place
in which to raise children than the home environment.
Institutions have and will always have
a role to play, but they can never be the solution
to our problem. Studies have shown that some
children in institutions have difficulty in forming
and sustaining relationships, and some develop
behavioural problems. Further, the costs of
running institutions are extremely high and
unsustainable. I believe that we must look for a
variety of options for the care of our OVC. For
example, we should encourage more fostering
by families, adoption, and communities taking
on responsibility for the care of OVC. We need
to know who our OVC are and where to find
them. Through your debate on registration I
hope that you will come up with viable options.
In identifying OVC we will also be identifying
a number of needs, and it is important that the
most appropriate forms of psychosocial support
and services are available. One basic need is
education, and we want to ensure that our OVC
have access to quality education. If we have an
uneducated population, what future will these
OVC and our country have?
You have important tasks ahead of you in
the next two days and I wish you well in carrying
them out.
With these few remarks it is now my pleasure
to officially declare the <strong>2nd</strong> <strong>National</strong> <strong>Conference</strong>
on OVC open, and simultaneously to launch
the study on orphans. Finally, I invite you all to
attend the reception following this opening
ceremony. I thank you.
Ms Ulitala Hiveluah, Permanent Secretary, MWACW
H onourable Ministers, Honourable Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen, Young People –
I thank you all for being present to witness the
official opening of this important event in the
life of Namibian children, most specifically OVC.
I thank the donors who made it possible to
hold this conference, specifically UNICEF, FHI
and USAID. I wish to assure them that we will
do our utmost to deliver as required.
Vote of thanks
The study on orphans, titled A Situation Analysis
of Orphan Children in Namibia, was produced
by the Social Impact Assessment and Policy
Analysis Corporation (Pty) Ltd (SIAPAC) for the
MoHSS and UNICEF Namibia. The report was
included in the conference handout pack (see full
handout list with publication details on p.79).
I thank the facilitators of the working groups
that will come up with recommendations, and I
thank the OVCNSC for a job well done.
These three days are crucial. When we leave
here, let us be clear on how we will go about our
work at the national, regional, local and village
levels. Thank you.
40 <strong>2nd</strong> <strong>National</strong> <strong>Conference</strong> on Orphans and Other Vulnerable Children – Windhoek, Namibia, 25-27 June 2002: Full Report