Press Release

U. S. Ambassador to Award over N$1.7 Million
Community Development and HIV/AIDS Grants
Monday, November 17, 2008

The Ambassador of the United States of America, Dennise Mathieu, presented Self-Help Grants totaling N$1.7 million to twenty-four development projects, at a signing ceremony on Monday, November 17, 2008, at 13 Von Eckenbrecher Street, Klein Windhoek. 

The U.S. Ambassador’s Self-Help Program is a grass-roots assistance program that responds to requests for financial assistance from small community-based projects that are initiated and administered at the local level; include significant contributions in cash, labor, or materials from the local community; and are self-sustaining.   Introduced in 1990, the Self-Help Program has provided over N$20.1 million in funding to 383 community based development projects in Namibia.  In addition, this is the fourth year that the Self-Help Program has funded initiatives in the fight against HIV/AIDS, supported by the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), reinforcing Namibia’s National Strategic Plan for HIV/AIDS.  Overall, projects from twelve regions of Namibia won grants this year.

The 2008 projects encompass a diverse range of locally generated initiatives that seek to improve social and economic conditions in Namibia, and tackle HIV/AIDS.  One project delivers monthly nutrition packs to infected mothers to help prevent HIV transmission from mother to child. Other projects will support gardens for food security and will improve the supply of water to households, gardens, and grazing areas by connecting solar panels, laying pipelines, and installing pumps.  There are projects that support vocational training to youngsters, commercial sex workers, and people living in informal settlements, teaching them the skills they need to earn an income.
 
Applications for the Ambassador’s Self-Help Program can be picked up at the U.S. Embassy in Windhoek. For additional information please contact the Self Help Coordinator at the U.S. Embassy at (061) 295-8635.

For further information, please contact Public Affairs Officer, Ray Castillo at 0811280816 or Information Assistant, Roger Lyners, at 229801 (ext. 226).