INFORMATION AWARENESS AND ADVOCACY DAY
DATE: 27TH MARCH, 2018
VENUE: MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT AND TOURISM
Prepared by Melba Mabuku - Sitwala
Advocacy day at MET
BACKGROUND
Advocacy is something library and information professionals do every day, almost without thinking. Advocacy is spreading the word about the fantastic things that happen in libraries and encouraging people to come and take a look (ALIA, 2010).The purpose of advocacy is to ensure that library services are front of mind for decision makers, management, staff, users and potential users, communicating their value to create a backdrop of goodwill, interest and enthusiasm about libraries. The event was attended by librarians from various ministries and they show cased various information materials available in their libraries. They had one on one talks with MET staff members. The Deputy Permanent Secretary, Honorable Bernadette Jagger officiated the event. She stressed on the fact that,
“Having being a teacher herself for many years, she fully is aware that libraries play a very important role in people’s lives therefore stressed the need for staff members to fully make use of these libraries”
Additionally, “she emphasized that there is a need for all the ministries to ensure that libraries receive funding, librarians are well trained and are up to date with relevant technologies and skills”.
THE MINISTERIAL LIBRARY SERVICE (MLS)
Provides professional expertise to supervise, support and coordinate special library and information services in government. At present, the Ministry of Education through NLAS provided librarians to 14 libraries in different Ministries. The main goal of ministerial libraries is provide technical and scientific information to decision-makers, researchers, students, business community, technicians and other professionals covering needs and services on key areas of the national economy. At present 17 Ministerial/special libraries operate under Government Ministries.
THE MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT AND TOURISM RESOURCE CENTRE
The Ministry of Environment and Tourism Resource Centre (METRC) is a Ministerial reference information Centre which falls under the Directorate of planning and Technical Services. The resource Centre serves staff members, researchers, business people, students, learners and the general public by providing technical and innovative information on environmental aspects and tourism.
VISION
The vision for the library is to foster an environment of discovery and intellectual exchange that inspires all our users by turning them into becoming critical thinkers through access to timely and relevant information.
VALUES
The libraries values are centered on collaboration, diversity, excellence, quick and effective responseness in meeting the needs of our users.
PURPOSE OF THE INFORMATION AND ADVOCACY DAY
Librarians in Ministerial libraries have a crucial role to play in ensuring that these libraries are put into use by the staff members otherwise the so purpose of having libraries in these Ministries would be in vain. It was discovered through monitoring and evaluation of all the ministries monthly library statistics, it was observed that the usage levels by staff members was on the low side. Understanding that our primary key users of these libraries are staff members, librarians then came together and came up with the idea of starting to conduct information awareness sessions on a quarterly basis.
The purpose of the information awareness sessions is to simply for librarians to create awareness to staff members on the available information found in libraries, the services provided and also to encourage staff members to become library members. Additionally, the motive of this event is to encourage usage of libraries and also for staff members to network with other librarians in other ministries and be able to find out more on what information can be accessed in other libraries.
All in all, these events helps bring librarians together there by making them feel the sense of belonging.
STATISTICS
The importance of statistics in libraries cannot be over emphasized. The statistics helps information professionals to assess themselves in terms of performance. Libraries are able to know how they are performing by looking at how the library is being used, which materials are mostly borrowed, which user groups are using the library more, what are they using the library for e.g. Internet, reading, borrowing books, photocopying or reading newspapers. Equally, during these events statistics are recorded in order to know the success and failures of the event. The number of staff members we reached out to and what where their views on what needs to be improved. It can thus be said that during this information awareness session, four hundred and fifty five staff members took time to come and support the event. Among them were the Minister of Environment and Tourism, The Deputy Minister, the Directors from different Directorates and Deputy Directors.
ARCHIEVEMENTS
A total 186 community members in the Mpungu constituency of the Kavango East region generated over N$129 thousand in devils claw sales. The community members sold a combined total of 3240 Kg at a selling platform facilitated by NILALEG Project on the 9th and 10th August 2022. NILALEG is a project that is under the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism responsible
for integrated landscape management approach in key agricultural and forest landscapes, reducing poverty through sustainable nature-based livelihoods, protecting biodiversity and restoring forests as carbon sinks, and promoting Land
Degradation Neutrality. The product were sold to EcoSo dynamics at N$40 per kilogram. The harvesters comprised of community members from ten villages namely, Nepara l, Nepara ll, Tjohwa, Nkulivere, Gava, Katope, Ngandu, Kasimba, Nkorose and Siraro villages.
Namibia Nature Foundation (NNF), a Consortiue under the NILALEG Project this year managed to train about 186 community members on sustainable harvesting of natural resources particularly the devil’s claw. Out of the trainees, 137 were female and 49 were male of which the majority were youth. The second sell is expected to take place in October 2022. According to Romeo Muyunda, MEFT Spokesperson the sale demonstrates the Ministry's commitment to realised its constitutional mandate, which in translation provides for the protection of the country's natural resources to benefit the citizens of the country. "Through these interventions that the ministry is implementing together with its partners, we are reducing poverty significantly especially in rural areas" Muyunda Added.
Devil's Claw (Harpophytum procumbens) is an indigenous plant to Southern Africa and is widely used as a medicine for treating arthritis, reducing pain and fever and stimulating digestion. More recently, it has become an important product for export to the European market with the biggest exports to France and Germany. In Namibia, Devils’ Claw is listed as a protected species under the 1977 Nature Conservation Ordinance of the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism, and may not be harvested or exported without the correct permits. A “Sustainably Harvested Devil’s Claw (SHDC) Model” is being implemented across the country to ensure the long-term use of this plant resource.
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