Six elections took place in  Southern Africa in 2009 (South Africa, Malawi, Angola, Botswana, Mozambique and Namibia). Where these have taken place Gender Links has conducted newsroom training as well as empowerment workshops for women politicians.Namibia which was the last country on the year's elections calender held its national elections on the 27th and 28th of November. Workshops to sensitize women politicians and civil society on engaging with the media as well as put out information during election time were conducted with different target groups.

However signs were already there before the country held its elections that the representation of women in parliament would drop significantly. This has reversed the gains made through the 50/50 campaign and the signing of the SADC Protocol on Gender and Development by SADC Heads of State in August 2008. The Protocol seeks to promote equal representation of women and men in all areas of decision-making by 2015.

Only 22 women won seats in the elections bringing down the number of women in the national assembly to 22%. The Namibian president is expected to announce the country's cabinet on the 21st of March and also appoint 6 additional members to the national assemblys.