Speeches Shim
Thank you everyone for the warm welcome. It is great to be here with you and get the chance to meet all of you, especially the new DREAMS Ambassadors.
This event marks the graduation of the FIRST group of DREAMS Ambassadors in Namibia, and I am honored to be here on this important and historic occasion.
The role that YOU will play in the lives of adolescent girls and young women in Namibia should not be underestimated. You are the first DREAMS Ambassadors and are here to ensure that the motto “nothing ABOUT us, WITHOUT us” is applied throughout the implementation of the DREAMS program in Namibia.
The DREAMS program supports adolescent girls and young women between 10 and 24 years of age as well as their parents or caregivers and sexual partners to prevent new HIV infections through education in reproductive health, prevention of gender-based violence, and entrepreneurship support. The DREAMS Ambassadors will mobilize and support participation in the program in their communities in Windhoek, Katima Mulilo, Onandjokwe, Omuthiya, and Tsumeb.
U.S. Ambassador Lisa Johnson announced that the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) will contribute $89 million U.S. dollars to Namibia in 2021 to fight HIV. The funding amount is an increase from $81 million USD that the PEPFAR program provided in 2020.
More than 4,000 Namibian HIV patients who stopped taking their antiretroviral medication have resumed treatment as a result of the United States’ food assistance program, which comes to an end in August. “I simply could not take my medication on an empty stomach because of side effects,” recalls Pezaje Tjazuvara from Otjinene, Omaheke Region. The 59-year-old family head is one of 147 patients in the region who have returned to antiretroviral care since she started receiving maize meal, beans, and oil through the food assistance program. “I truly appreciate the food assistance which not only helped me feed my family but also allowed me to take my pills again.”
Seven young women are launching their own tailoring business with the support of the U.S. government-funded DREAMS project in Namibia. Today, the seven entrepreneurs delivered 300 face masks to Project Hope for use in Safe Spaces around the capital, Windhoek. Safe Spaces are locations at schools or in the community where adolescent girls and young women enrolled in the DREAMS program meet to discuss matters affecting young women. U.S. Ambassador Lisa Johnson congratulated the young female entrepreneurs at the small handover ceremony at the Project Hope Namibia offices in Windhoek, and said, “The DREAMS program takes a holistic approach - because our emotional, physical, and financial health are all related. This has become increasingly clear with COVID-19. I am happy to see that you are becoming successful businesswomen in mask tailoring.”
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