Development Workshop Namibia (DWN) is a recently registered Namibian NGO with a focus on sustainable urban development, informal settlements and the disadvantaged communities that reside in them. DWN is part of a world-wide network of Development Workshop (DW) organisations with centres in Canada, Angola and France, and offices in Vietnam and Burkino Faso. It is funded by non-governmental organisations, private citizens, and national and international development organisations.
DW was founded in 1975 by three architect students in the UK with the objective to improve the livelihoods of poor and disadvantaged communities, with a specific focus on human settlements. Over the last 40 years, DW has implemented many award winning and successful programs in over 30 countries in Africa, Asia and the Americas. DW’s biggest operation is currently in Angola, where it started working in 1981 (www.dw.angonet.org). Active in the sectors of peacebuilding & reconciliation, water & sanitation, urban infrastructure, urban planning, research & advocacy, microfinance and climate change & environment, DW Angola at peak times had more than 150 employees. It founded a micro finance institution that today has more than 50,000 clients and runs a successful and sustainable social housing program.
Meet the Team
Beat Weber (right) has a PhD in Urban Studies and has worked for Development Workshop Angola from 2001 to 2015, mainly in the areas of sustainable urban land use planning and informal settlement upgrading. He has authored and co-authored several geographic publications on central, eastern and southern Angola. He has founded DW Namibia in 2016 with the objective to develop a broad and sustainable program to address challenges related to informal settlements in Namibia.
Ester Veiko (second right)has completed her Honours in Regional and Rural Development at NUST in 2018. She joined DW Namibia in May 2018 as a project coordinator for the Oshakati land delivery project.
Kunandjambi Mupurua (third right) is pursuing a Masters Degree in Hydrology at UNAM. She is assisting DW Namibia in the implementation of the project on appropriate sanitation in Namibia, being responsible for the field research.
Alina Nambuli (first left) and Esleen Guriras (second left) are pursuing a BA Honours in Regional and Rural Development at the Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST) and are currently doing a 12 month internship with DW Namibia. The are involved in GIS mapping and field research, and produce the monthly publication ‘Media Monitoring on Urban Development in Namibia’.