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The Young Feminist Movement Namibia

As we would come to know feminism is a collection of movements aimed at creating equal opportunities for women. So in this prospect “The Young Feminist Movement Namibia” (Yfem) has been formed to help young feminist in Namibia understand why women and young women in our communities and around the world continue to be discriminated against, regardless of all the progressive laws and policies that assure our rights to dignity, equality, happiness and many more.

For these reasons Yfem is there to involve and educate young feminists on how to participate and make their own choices, this will enable them to empower and develop Yfem for the future as well as empower themselves and their peers. This movement will encourage young feminists to analyze their own lives, to engage in self-education to gain self-knowledge and self-worth and for them to start thinking, acting and speaking for themselves.

The vision of this movement is that we visualize a society in which young women are leaders, and enjoy respect, dignity, bodily integrity, autonomy and choice. The mission of this movement is that we fulfill this vision by building feminist leadership of young women based on sisterhood and solidarity across all our diversities. The values of this movement are Courage, honesty and openness, being inclusive, celebrating our differences and diversity, learning and sharing with each other, solidarity and peace

Yfem has certain Strategic Goals it wishes to accomplish to empower women to stand on their own:

Voice

To build the visibility and voice of young women through Raising consciousness of all forms of discrimination and oppression that have an impact on young women’s lives and choices in all their diversity Building the feminist leadership capacity of young women by providing them with knowledge on feminisms and skills in research, critical thinking and analysis Building and strengthening participation of young women through advocacy and lobbying on young women’s rights Promoting the creative expression of young women through writing and other art forms.  

Body

To promote young women’s ownership and control over their sexuality and reproduction through Exploring the power of sexuality and pleasure in young women’s lives, Educating young women on their sexual and reproductive health and rights Advocating for comprehensive sexuality education in formal and informal settings and for youth friendly reproductive health services

Money

To promote the economic empowerment of young women through Encouraging young women to aim high in their education. Sharing information on scholarships and training opportunities as well as advocating for job creation for young women.

The key strategies of this movement are:

1.Education and training on feminism and feminist leadership Young women will be trained to understand the principles of feminism and feminist leadership. By taking up feminist leadership, they will become the voice for the rights and entitlements of young women in their communities and society.

2. Development of new feminist knowledge through research, creative expression and publishing The organization will build the research capacity of its members by working together and gaining skills from organizations already engaged in feminist research in Namibia. This is important to inform the work of the Young Feminists Movement in Namibia. A special focus will be on nurturing the creative expression of young women through training and mentoring in writing and other art forms. The research and creative work will be published in various formats.

3. Information sharing and networking The Young Feminists Movement will work to create solidarity and sisterhood as well as mutual learning among young women in Namibia by providing forums for information sharing and networking. We will collaborate closely with the Women’s Leadership Centre and Sister Namibia to gain from their knowledge and experience as feminist organizations in Namibia. We will further build partnerships with young feminist groups across the SADC region, the African continent and the globe. - by Ashanté Garises

Reference list

1. Y-Fem Namibia. (2011). Profile of the young feminist movement Namibia. Windhoek: Florence Khaxas

2. Merriam-webster.com.(2010). Feminism-Definition and more from the Merriam Webster Dictionary. Retrieved October 3, 2011, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/feminism