Women's Action for Development, which recently became a Namibian non-governmental organisation, has been supporting and facilitating the development of women in Namibia for a number of years. Mrs Veronica de Klerk, executive director, spoke in an interview, about where women were in Namibian society, where they are and where they are going.

Delegates attending a conference in Namibia on establishing a permanent war-crimes court told IRIN on Tuesday that regional support for the initiative was growing. "Southern African nations were a driving force toward getting the International Criminal Court (ICC) treaty on paper," said Joanne Lee, one of the conference organisers. The ICC would, once created, be able to prosecute individuals for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.

President Sam Nujoma has ordered a total ban on the purchase of The Namibian by the Government of the Republic of Namibia. This directive by the President has been issued hot on the heels of an earlier Cabinet decision to ban Government line ministries from advertising in the newspaper on grounds that it maintained an "anti-Government stance."

The Namibian Defence Force (NDF) said it participated in a joint operation with the Angolan army that "dislodged" UNITA rebels from Mavinga, a strategic town deep inside Angola, 'The Namibian' reported on Thursday. Army Chief Major-General Martin Shalli was quoted as saying that the joint-operation was carried out last week in southern Angola's Cuando Cubango Province, more than 200 km north of the Namibian border.

Namibia's prosecutor general is to decide whether to prosecute policemen accused of systematically torturing people suspected of being part of an armed separatist attack in Caprivi almost two years ago, 'The Namibian' said on Thursday. Jackson Tangeni Kuutondokwa, the deputy prosecutor general in Kavango, was quoted as saying that his recommendations were being typed up before being dispatched to Windhoek for Prosecutor General Hans Heyman to decide.