Luanda: The 5th Ordinary Regional Meeting of the Pan-African Women's Organization (PAWO) in Luanda on Tuesday highlighted the role of the former President of Namibia, Sam Nujoma, in the tireless defense of justice, peace and equality, including the emancipation of women.

According to Angola Press News Agency, PAWO Regional Secretary for Southern Africa, Luzia Inglªs, read a tribute on the death of Sam Nujoma, who passed away on Saturday at the age of 95. The statesman played a fundamental role in the development of more just and developed societies. Luzia Inglªs described the former Namibian president as a visionary and an ally in the quest for women's full participation in political, economic, and social life. "May his legacy inspire us to continue the struggle for a united Africa, strong and committed to social justice and gender equality," Inglªs said.

Sam Nujoma was an activist and guerrilla leader who became Namibia's first democratically elected president after the country gained independence from South Africa's apartheid regime. Revered as the "Father of the Nation" and an icon of Namibia's liberation struggle, Sam Nujoma assumed leadership of the country on 21 March 1990 and was formally recognized as the "Founding Father of Namibia" by an Act of Parliament in 2005 after leading the country for 15 years.

Born on 12 May 1929 into a farming family, Sam Nujoma was the eldest of 10 children. He tended cows and goats until, at the age of 17, he left his remote northern village for the western port city of Walvis Bay.

During the one-day meeting, member countries presented the 2023/2024 Activity Report, took stock of the situation of women in Angola and other member countries, and discussed the Organization's Activity Plan for 2025. The countries of the Southern Region, including South Africa, Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Eswatini, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, identified the main constraints in the functioning of the Organization and proposed a series of recommendations for its growth. Participants also addressed the issue of women's empowerment and its contribution to the full realization of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.