UNDP- Namibia's Page

Name of Organization, Institution, Company, or School:

United Nations Development Programme ( Namibia)

Focus of Study/axe de l'étude/foco de estudio

Environmental Management

What languages do you speak?

English

URL?

http://www.undp.org.na

What did you film on 12.12.12?

10.10.10 One Day On Earth (NAMIBIA)
The film captures the perspectives of two young professionals (Mr. Reagan Chunga and Ms. Asellah David) on important development issues in Namibia in the context of “One Day On Earth”. They mainly share their views on the craft making business in Namibia, and how it relates to their work. On this particular day (10.10.10), they were scheduled to work on a few vital tasks at their office; hence the filming is partially done there. Some segments are filmed at the Windhoek crafts market where crafts are sold to tourists. They have chosen the office of the Integrated Environmental Consultants of Namibia (IECN) because of three main reasons:
• Firstly, because of the role the IECN plays on enhancing capacities of young professionals by giving them an opportunity to gain more on-the-job experience which is closely related to the capacity enrihcment and development work that UNDP undertakes.
• Secondly, IECN has a family/office working environment set up whereby Ms. Juliane Zeidler (PhD), the mentor of the young professionals, combines motherhood and mentoring which provided a unique twist to the day to position the two young professionals (I nthe present) with a four month old baby (respresenting the future).
• Thirdly, IECN has many unique collections of different crafts which provide inspiration for the young professionals to work and also goes well with the topic they have chosen to address on this particular day.
Unemployment is very high in Namibia and young graduates or professionals need to enhance their skills in order to have a better competitive edge over others. Skilled young graduates who have some on- the- job experience stand a good chance of performing well in the interviews.
Crafts making is one of the fastest growing industries in Namibia, contributing to the economy of the country through improvement of livelihoods. The crafts market is one of the main visited tourist spots in the capital city of Windhoek. Most of the Namibian’s crafts are insipred by its natural beauty, landscapes, and wildlife. The crafts are crafted to capture the country’s beauty as a contribution to nature-based economy through the tourism industry.
Through sustainable practices crafts contribute to sustainable natural resources management in Namibia addressing a number of MDGs like Goal: 7 (cutting bush that is encroaching productive land to improve soil conditions) and promoting selling of crafts by providing alternative livelihoods options to eradicate poverty (MDG 1). Namibia is one of the most arid countries in sub-Saharan Africa with low agricultural productivity potential, as such, utilization of both renewable and non-renewable natural resources is critical to providing opportunities to address poverty and combat high unemployment rates.
The filming commences with Martha Talamondjila Mwandingi from the UNDP Namibia Country Office meeting with two young professionals at a site overlooking Windhoek, the capital city of Namibia. It was a perfect One Day On Earth in Windhoek as it was a windy day in Windhoek --look Martha’s hair-. Windhoek means “wind corner”. Various clips film a visit on the One Day On Earth to the crafts market with a brief interview with one of the women at the market. Some captures the crafts market with a variety of products sold there. Some clips show Reagan, Asellah and Juliane in the office with interviews about crafts making. Some clips of the IECN office and surrounding environments including two children, Given and Junior, after a swim on this particular day.
There is a clip capturing Reagan as he explains the crafts making process particularly showcasing different styles of baskets and some other crafts.
Credits: Filming: Elzita Siebritz and Martha Mwandingi. Subjects: Reagan Chunga, Asellah David and Juliane Zeidler. Crafts sales woman: Melissa.