F A Q s

The Foundation and the Office of the First Lady have identical mandates and have thus signed a Service Level Agreement where the Foundation operates as the fundraising arm and the Office of the First Lady as the implementation arm.

The Foundation is registered as a Section 21 Company (Association not for gain), a Welfare Organisation, and can issue a donor with a certificate of donation in terms of section 17 (1) (s) of the Income Tax, 1981 (Act number 24 of 1981). For donors from the United States of America, we can confirm we have a valid Equivalency Determination ("ED") certificate from NGOsource and is certified as being equivalent to a U.S public charity. Our ED certificate is available in the NGOsource repository.

The Foundation is governed by a board that comprises a majority of independent, non-executive directors. We operate according to a robust governance framework that is periodically audited by PriceWaterhouseCoopers Namibia.

The Office of the First Lady has established the Foundation as its fundraising arm as we do not receive government funding for the implementation of our programmes. The funds we raise are primarily in the form of donations and are controlled by an independent, non-executive Board that ensures we operate according to our strategic objectives and funding plan.

We are apolitical and we welcome young people regardless of their political affiliation, gender, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, religion, or nationality. We uphold strong values of non-discrimination and are intentional about ensuring demographic inclusivity in our programming, representation, and funding. We have one director who is regarded as a politically exposed person ("PEP"). We have therefore taken the following steps to mitigate any risks, real or perceived; No PEP is permitted to receive remuneration or reimbursement, for whatsoever reason, from the Foundation. This is to ensure that no money paid to the Foundation directly or indirectly benefits a PEP; The Foundation will not employ family members of any board member; The board will require regular and comprehensive declaration of interests from all its board members, particularly PEPs; No more than two PEPs will be permitted to serve on the board at any given time; The governance framework will specify that the board mandate will at all times be performed in an apolitical manner; The governance framework has entrenched provisions against corruption, bribery, money laundering, and influence peddling; Ensure that the majority of the board is composed of independent, non-executive directors.

Private donors fully fund our programmes. We are regularly asked whether the Talented Individual Programme (TIP) is funded by the government of the Republic of Namibia; the answer is NO.

85% of all the funding received goes directly to programme beneficiaries, while 15% is reserved for operational costs.

Our intervention in the education sector is limited to the Talented Individual Programme (TIP) where we select Secondary School learners who have outstanding academic results. Learners enter the TIP programme in Grade 8 and we fund them until they complete Grade 12. You can apply for the TIP programme by sending in an application.

We are always deeply humbled when people have faith that our office is able to resolve their challenges. Given this responsibility, we always try our best to assist wherever we can. However, we do not receive government funding for the implementation of our programmes and our formal mandate limits our budgetary support to our programmes, thus we are unable to fund individual requests.

The ONE Nation Fund Microfinance has taken a decision to temporarily freeze and/or place a moratorium on funding towards grassroots micro-businesses for the year. Due to human capacity constraints, the Fund will focus its resources on strengthening the institutional capacity of its current entrepreneurs. The decision to lift the moratorium will be announced early next year.

We do not promote private businesses or write letters of recommendation. We have a Youth Opportunity (YO!) pillar through which we support young entrepreneurs, including assisting them in accessing new markets and networks.

We occasionally receive items and/or donations, which are ad-hoc and dependent on One Economy donors, so we are not able to commit to timing, quantity or what the item will be available for us to forward to any organisation. Any donations we give out will be publicised and our team will identify where the need is greatest, a need we can meet. We distribute these to vulnerable groups and/or individuals on our database. If you would like to be added to our database, please send an email to admin@1economy.org, specifying the needs and number of beneficiaries.

The Foundation’s board sets our funding priorities; aligned with of our strategic objectives. We, thus, we cannot fund financial requests that are personal in nature, and that fall outside our programmatic scope.

We recruit up to 10 paid volunteers and interns per year. The window for volunteer applications is open from 16-30 November, during which you can send us your application along with your CV and cover letter. Responses to volunteer applications are usually made the following year, by the end of January.

The Abortion and Sterilization Act 2 of 1975 provides for legal abortion when the pregnancy is a result of a rape. A criminal charge of rape must be laid with the GBV Investigating Unit or any other Police Station, after which the investigating officer will approach the Magistrate and District surgeons/medical doctors in public service to prepare all the legal documents for the proceedings to be done at Katutura State Hospital.

You can contact the following: Regain Trust Windhoek – 0817033203 Regain Trust Erongo – 0815584008 Regain Trust Omusati – 0815584008 GBV Hotline – 106 or 061 232221 Child Helpline – 106 Social Workers in both Ministry of Gender Equality, Poverty Eradication and Social Welfare, and the Social Workers in the Ministry of Health and Social Services. Report incidence: Namibian Police – 10111 and ask for the nearest Gender-Based Violence investigating Unit or Police Station – 10111 City Police – 2902239/2902018 Social Workers in both Ministry of Gender Equality, Poverty Eradication and Social Welfare, and the Social Workers in the Ministry of Health and Social Services.

It is best to report the incident within 72 hours and before you take a bath to receive all the necessary emergency drugs to prevent pregnancy, STIs, HIV/AIDS, and ensure the proper completion of the rape kit with all corroborating evidence for court. A rape survivor can report even ten years after the incident according to the combating of the rape Act. But the case will then depend solely on the statement of the survivor and other witnesses and lack the medical report, including the expert opinion of a medical doctor and the forensic laboratory report.

You can contact the following: Namibian Police (ask for the nearest Gender-Based Violence investigating Unit for a Social Worker or police officer on standby) – 10111 City Police – 061 2902239/2902018 Lifeline ChildLine / GBV Hotline – 106, 116 or 0811400222

You can get in touch with the numbers provided above.

You can get in touch with the numbers provided above.

You can contact the following: Lifeline ChildLine / GBV Hotline – 106, 116 or 061 232221 Bel Esprit Mental Health Hospital – 0833300945

You can get in touch with the numbers provided above.

The foundation has a specific Pillar called #BREAKFREE that deals with cases of sexual and gender-based violence, but of limited scope, since we only deal with landmark cases that can influence policy. With our in-house gender and child protection specialist and two social workers, we complement what key ministries and existing organisations are already doing, and refer cases to private psychologists and other practitioners, as necessary. As reporting abuse can be a traumatising and strenuous process, we also facilitate statement-taking and medical examinations, and work in close collaboration with the Gender Based Violence Investigating Unit staff, shelters and NGOs dealing with child protection and SGBV to ensure that survivors receive proper and holistic care. We also conduct group Therapy with survivors and their families on a regular basis, and prepare vulnerable witnesses for court. Apart from case management, we also do statutory/court work (denying of bail, acting as support person for survivors or mediator in cases of minor children, presenting trauma impact reports to court, submitting applications for special measures and arrangements for vulnerable witnesses, serving as expert witnesses and facilitating first report statements and custody reports) and offer Outreach and Preventions services at schools, churches and tertiary institutions along with Thematic dialogues with the Youth, Men and specific target audiences.

Social workers handle all the cases of minor children in the employ of the Ministry of Gender Equality, Poverty Eradication, and Social Welfare or any Police Station where the case warrants for police intervention. In cases where children need medical attention, the child should be taken to the nearest health facility where a medical doctor will complete the forms required for later use in court cases. Private medical doctors are usually not willing to testify in a court of law.

Please contact The Ministry of Gender Equality, Poverty eradication and Social Welfare. They have the mandate to work with such cases.

Our values and ethos are rooted in building bridges of opportunity. For this reason, we would never charge an application fee as this disadvantage the potential beneficiaries for our programme. We also do not use any agents to carry out work on our behalf.

We would also like to add the Founder and Chairperson's social media handles, Mrs. Monica Geingos, as there are often fake social media accounts that impersonate her and defraud the public. Twitter: @One_Namibia, @BeFreeBreakFree, @KalondoMonica @FirstLadyNam, Instagram: @projectbefree Facebook: One Economy Foundation

Requests for mentorship are among the most common requests the Office receives. Due to FLONs scale of engagements and time constraints, it's extremely difficult to sustain one-on-one mentorship. In lieu of this, FLON has structured her public engagements so that they enable her to share her views on a broad range of issues in the hope that this will assist with navigating complex spaces for young people and support professionals in growing in their careers. Elements of Mentorship are also incorporated into the One Economy flagship programmes such as the Collateral free lending programme (entrepreneurship and enterprise development), TIP (education), and #BeFree (Social issues). Lastly, through strategic partnerships and support to institutions such as the Shackdwellers Federation of Namibia, FLON imparts knowledge and helps stakeholders develop solutions relevant to their members.

Due to constraints on her time, she is unable to meet you. We receive several requests for personal appointments with Madame Geingos, and due to her limited availability, she often delegates her staff members to meet people on her behalf.

We welcome requests for the First Lady to speak. You are welcome to email the request in writing, outlining the event's outcomes and the role you would like the First Lady to play. Please note, all requests go through a rigorous process to determine alignment with our strategic objectives. There are no guarantees that the First Lady will be able to attend all events.

Requests for an appointment with the President are coordinated through his Private Office. Any citizen who wishes to meet/ engage the President should submit such a request in writing with full details on the purpose of the meeting to the President's Office. Unfortunately, the President has a hectic schedule; an appointment request should be explicit on why the issues cannot be attended to by the line Ministry with the mandate and jurisdiction on a particular issue.

The First Lady took a personal decision not to have any organisation named after her.

The First Lady does not move alone. To have your request to approach the First Lady considered, it is advisable to approach one of the staff members in close proximity to her as they usually have the best idea about the amount of time she is in a particular area. It is advisable to be considerate and not attempt to take selfies while the First Lady is having meals as this can be disruptive.

Since assuming her role as First Lady in 2015, Mrs. Monica Geingos has received several requests to be Patron of various organisations or events. At the end of 2015, after looking at the intensity of the duty of being a Patron, the First Lady took a personal decision to limit the number of Patronships she is willing to take on. This has enabled her to be an active Patron for the Shackdweller's Federation and the Monica Geingos Junior Secondary School. We, therefore, apologise that she cannot accept your request.

No. Please refer to the relevant ministry or authorities.

The Monica Gender-Based Violence Solutions Centre is founded by Mr. Shaanika Nashilongo, a community activist who invests his time and energy fighting for gender-based violence. The initiatives are not endorsed, suggested, or pioneered by the Office of the First Lady or Mrs. Monica Geingos. Although, the Office of the First Lady often collaborates with the Monica Gender-Based Violence Solutions Centre as we do with other community-focused groups.

No. Our programmes are independent of the involvement of Mrs. Monica Geingos.