Sunday afternoon in Namibia.

• Position: Hypothetical situation used for training of United Nations Transition Assistance Group staff leaving for Namibia

This is one of three hypothetical situations that UN staff leaving for

Namibia were asked to solve at the intensive two-day briefing in

March attended by staffers headed for Namibia. The briefing was organized by the Training Service of the UN Office of Human Resources Management, with the support of the Department of Public Information.

Recent events

A major political party has scheduled a large political rally for Sunday afternoon. There are rumours that other smaller groups with different affiliations may hold "spontaneous" gatherings at the same time to try to upstage the event.

Many Namibians working on farms in the area would like to attend the rally but the farm owners will not permit them to leave work as "cattle must be tended on Sunday like every other day". A couple of white Namibian farm owners have actually told you this in person and claim that local customs and regulations support this. Some have mentioned that they will tell their farm workers how to vote "so that they won't be confused". Some sectors of the population are rumoured to have firearms.

A team of reporters from a major international newspaper has just arrived to do a feature story on a refugee reception centre in your district. There have been an increasing number of complaints that returnees staying at the centre have been intimidated by the...