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Jan Nico Scholten (born 4 June 1932 in Dalen) is a Dutch former politician.
Scholten studied law and political science at VU University Amsterdam. After being mayor of the municipalities Andel, Giessen and Rijswijk for nine years and Chairman of a District Council for ten years, he joined the Dutch Parliament from 1970-1986 (House) and later in 1998-1999 (Senate). He served as a member of the Benelux-Parliament and of the Assembly of the Council of Europe.
In 1984, Jan Nico Scholten took the initiative for the foundation of AWEPAA, the Association of West European Parliamentarians for Action against Apartheid. He sought to coordinate at the international level the struggle against the apartheid regime in South Africa. As President of AWEPAA he travelled through Europe and to the United States and Canada to stimulate support for sanctions. In 1985, he was arrested in Washington D.C. at a demonstration in front of the South African embassy. There he spent the night in prison reading a prayer book by Archbishop Desmond Tutu before being released the following day.
As President of AWEPAA he also worked for the independence of Namibia and for the support to the Frontline States of Southern Africa. In 1986 he left parliament -although at the end of the nineties he became a member of the Dutch Senate for two years- which allowed him more time for his work at AWEPAA. At the invitation of the Council of Churches in Namibia he participated in the Eminent Persons Observer Mission in Namibia, which monitored the independence elections. On 21 March 1990, he was a guest of the new government when the Namibia flag was first raised in Windhoek. On this occasion he declared: “Today Windhoek, tomorrow Pretoria”. On numerous occasions, AWEPAA organised conferences on Namibia to bring the need for European support for independent Namibia to the attention of European politicians.
In order to promote the dialogue between Africa and Europe, the African-European Institute was established in 1988 on the initiative of Jan Nico Scholten. Africans and Europeans work together in the Institute for increased understanding and cooperation, among them Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Ms. Graça Machel and late Dr. Mosé Tjitendero, Speaker of Namibia.
Besides being President of AWEPAA, Jan Nico Scholten has from 1983-1998 been the chairman of the Dutch Refugee Council, the coordinating organisation for support of refugees in the Netherlands. Assistance to refugees has always been a great concern for him. In the 1970s he visited Palestinian refugee camps and was deeply moved by the misery of above all women and children. He worked for a resolution of the Middle East conflict in which both the rights of the Palestinians and the continued existence of Israel would be honoured.
In the Netherlands he was involved in many social issues, like housing for low income and elderly people and services to the handicapped. Furthermore, he was Chairman of the Federation of Employees in the non-profit sector for ten years.
Following the abolition of apartheid in the early 1990s, Jan Nico Scholten transformed AWEPAA into a new organization, The Association of European Parliamentarians for Africa (AWEPA). In his work for AWEPA he remains dedicated to supporting parliamentary democracy in Africa while also striving to keep Africa high on the agenda of European parliamentarians.
Dedicated to humanitarian solidarity, Dr. Jan Nico Scholten was Mayor and Chairman of a District Council before joining the Dutch Parliament (house and senate) as well as serving as a member of the Benelux-Parliament and the Assembly of the Council of Europe. In 1984 he took the initiative in the founding of what is now called AWEPA. He served as Executive and non-Executive President for AWEPA's first 25 years and is still actively involved. He has received awards from the United Nations, various African countries and the Queen of the Netherlands honouring his commitment to human dignity. After completing his term as President in 2009, Dr. Scholten is currently on the eminent advisory board of AWEPA and will continue to be a valued asset to the organisation. [1]
The history of Namibia has passed through several distinct stages from being colonised in the late nineteenth century to Namibia's independence on 21 March 1990.
Samuel Shafiishuna Daniel Nujoma, is a Namibian revolutionary, anti-apartheid activist and politician who served three terms as the first President of Namibia, from 1990 to 2005. Nujoma was a founding member and the first president of the South West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO) in 1960. Before 1960, SWAPO was known as the Ovambo People's Organisation (OPO). He played an important role as leader of the national liberation movement in campaigning for Namibia's political independence from South African rule. He established the People's Liberation Army of Namibia (PLAN) in 1962 and launched a guerrilla war against the apartheid government of South Africa in August 1966 at Omugulugwombashe, beginning after the United Nations withdrew the mandate for South Africa to govern the territory. Nujoma led SWAPO during the lengthy Namibian War of Independence, which lasted from 1966 to 1989.
Graça Machel is a Mozambican politician and humanitarian. Machel is an international advocate for women's and children's rights and was made an honorary Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II in 1997 for her humanitarian work. She is the only woman in modern history to have served as First Lady of two countries: South Africa and Mozambique. She is the widow of former President of Mozambique Samora Machel (1975–1986) and former President of South Africa Nelson Mandela (1998–2013).
The Popular Democratic Movement (PDM) is an amalgamation of political parties in Namibia, registered as one singular party for representation purposes. In coalition with the United Democratic Front, it formed the official opposition in Parliament until the parliamentary elections in 2009. The party currently holds 5 seats in the Namibian National Assembly and one seat in the Namibian National Council and has lost its status as the official opposition party, taking the fourth place. McHenry Venaani is the President of the PDM.
Dirk Frederik Mudge was a Namibian politician. He served in several high-ranking positions in the South African administration of South West Africa, was the chairman of the 1975–1977 Turnhalle Constitutional Conference, and co-founded the Republican Party (RP) of Namibia as well as the Democratic Turnhalle Alliance (DTA), now known as the Popular Democratic Movement (PDM).
Hage Gottfried Geingob was a Namibian politician who served as the third president of Namibia from 2015 until his death in February 2024. Geingob was the first prime minister of Namibia from 1990 to 2002, and served again from 2012 to 2015. Between 2008 and 2012 Geingob served as Minister of Trade and Industry. In November 2014, Geingob was elected president of Namibia by an overwhelming margin. In November 2017, Geingob became the third president of the ruling SWAPO Party after winning by a large margin at the party's sixth Congress. He served as the party's president until his death. In August 2018, Geingob began a one-year term as chairperson of the Southern African Development Community.
Alain Destexhe is a Belgian politician. He was a senator from 1995 to 2011, and remained a member of the Brussels Regional Parliament until 2019. Destexhe was a member of the liberal Mouvement Réformateur (MR) and represented Belgium in the World Economic Forum. He was awarded the Prize for Liberty by Nova Civitas in 2006. He was Secretary-General of Médecins Sans Frontières from 1991 to 1995, and President of the International Crisis Group from 1997 to October 1999.
The South West Africa National Union (SWANU) is a Namibian political party founded in 1959. Most of its members came from the Herero people, while fellow independence movement SWAPO was mostly an Ovambo party.
The Association of European Parliamentarians with Africa (AWEPA) is an international parliamentary association that is strictly non-partisan, founded by European parliamentarians in 1984. In cooperation with African parliaments, AWEPA works to strengthen parliamentary democracy in Africa, keep Africa high on the political agenda in Europe, and facilitate African-European parliamentary dialogue.
Pär Granstedt is a Swedish politician and former member of the Parliament of Sweden for the Centre Party from 1973 to 1994. He is a founding member of AWEPA, Association of European Parliamentarians with Africa. He has served the organization since the foundation as member of the Executive and Council, Vice President and Treasurer and was elected its Secretary General in December 2006. He is currently a member of the AWEPA Governing Council.
White Namibians are people of European descent settled in Namibia. The majority of White Namibians are Dutch-descended Afrikaners, with a minority being native-born German Namibians. There are also some Portuguese and English immigrants. 53,773 Namibians identified as White in the 2023 census.
Miet Smet is a Belgian politician for the Christian Democratic and Flemish party (CD&V).
Harold Pupkewitz was a Lithuanian born, Namibian entrepreneur and member of the President's Economic Advisory Council. He was the Executive Chairman of Pupkewitz Holdings, a group of builders' merchants, car sale businesses, and a host of other enterprises, from its foundation in 1946 until his death. Pupkewitz directed the boards of several important Namibian companies, among them NamPost, NamPower, Telecom Namibia, and MTC Namibia, and served as president of a number of high-profile political and economical institutions.
Hendrik Jan "Henk Jan" Ormel is a Dutch politician of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA).
Constance Letang Kgosiemang was the paramount chief of the Tswana people in Namibia, a parliamentarian, and the leader of the Seoposengwe Party until its merger into the Democratic Turnhalle Alliance (DTA).
Hosea Nico Kaiyamo is a Namibian politician, an author and businessman who was the first regional councillor for the Tsumeb Constituency and a member of parliament in the National Council. He was an activist for South-West Africa People's Organisation (SWAPO) in its long struggle against South African rule until Namibia obtained independence on 21 March 1990. He was elected Regional Councillor for the Tsumeb Constituency in 1993 and remained in office until 2003. He was a member of parliament in the National Council from 1993 to 2003.
Margaret Natalie Mensah-Williams is a Namibian politician, diplomat, and prominent SWAPO member. She currently serves as Namibia's ambassador to the United States.
Peter Hitjitevi Katjavivi is a Namibian politician who has been the Speaker of the National Assembly of Namibia since March 2015 and the chancellor of the Namibia University of Science and Technology from 1992 to 2003. Previously he was the founding Vice-Chancellor of the University of Namibia from 1992 to 2003, Ambassador to the European Union from 2003 to 2006, Ambassador to Germany from 2006 to 2008, and Director General of the National Planning Commission from 2008 to 2010.
Johannes Nicolaas Horn is a Namibian Professor of Human rights and Constitutional Law at the University of Namibia (UNAM) since 2002. He holds PhDs in Theology and Law, and was an advocate in the Office of the Prosecutor-General, and Prosecutor in the High Court of Namibia. He worked as UNAM's Director of the Human Rights and Documentation Centre, Dean of the Law Faculty from 2008 until 2010 and also served on the UNAM Governing Council. Nico Horn is the founding editor and a founding trustee of the Namibia Law Journal and chairperson of the Board of Trustees of the SADC Law Journal. He was also a Pastor for the Pentecostal church in South Africa.
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