NAMIBIA’S VOLUNTARY PRESENTATION ON NATIONAL STRATEGIES FOCUSING ON HEALTH, EDUCATION AND POVERTY, in tandem with

GENDER EQUALITY and women empowerment

ByHon. Doreen Sioka

Minister of Gender Equality and Child WelfareGovernment of the Republic of Namibia

Prepared for The Annual Ministerial Review of the Economic and Social

Council (ECOSOC) meeting in New York, U.S.A2010 - 06-30

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REPUBLIC OF NAMIBIA

The Presentation: FocusINTRODUCTIONPolitical Framework: • General Overview

Economic & Development Planning - Focus• IADGs, MDGs Vision 2030 Objectives

The Planning Process • The Key Elements

MAIN FOCUS: GENDER and HEALTH, EDUCATION, and P0VERTY

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Background

• This presentation is a response to the UN General Assembly Resolution 61/16 on the “strengthening of the Economic and Social Council” of November 26th, 2006, focusing on sister nations’ shared and exclusive experiences in the implementation of IADGs, MDGs, and OWN NATIONAL developmental goals, in particular strategies used in the processes.

• The presentation summarises the main Report which focuses on gender and health; gender and education; and gender and poverty in relation to achieving the IADGs , MDGs, and Namibia’s Vision 2030 objectives.

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Political Framework

Borders:North: Angola and ZambiaEast: Zimbabwe and BotswanaWest: Atlantic OceanSouth: South Africa

Regions: 13, Each headed by a Governor

National Parliament : 72 MembersNational Council: 26 Members

H.E. the President, Executive, and Judiciary 4

Political Framework Continues

• Attained independence in 1990• Based on:

- multi-party democracy- separation of powers- unitary state with an - Independent Electoral

Commission

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Key Features: Population

Additional Statistics:

• + 2 million people• 65+ % rural mostly in the northern part.• Rural: Male 47% Female 53%• Urban: Male 53% Female 47%

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Economic & Developmental Planning

These factors generally guide national and developmental planning

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Economic Features:

• A thriving mixed economy.

• Heavily dependent on mineral extraction and processing of minerals for export.

• Rich alluvial diamond deposits makes Namibia a primary source of quality-germs.

• World’s 5th largest exporter of uranium, and 4th largest African exporter of non-fuel minerals.

• GDP is estimated at N$78 Billion (U$ 10.3 Billion) as per 2009 preliminary figures

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Other Economic Features

• Presents a modern market supported by a traditional subsistence sector. These combine to generate most of the country's wealth.

• The majority population is rural, and depends on subsistence agriculture and animal herding.

• Boasts +200,000 skilled workers, and a small

but well-trained professional and managerial cadre.

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Synergies and Strategies

The given information provides the background to Namibia’s strategies to achieve the IADGs, MDGs, and Vision 2030 objectives in the selected areas,

Namely: i). Health and Gender.ii). Education and Gender.iii). Poverty and Gender

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Vision 2030 and IAGs (Including MDGs)

Health and Gender MGDs 4-6

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Strategies

1. Prioritisation of ‘Primary Health Care’ as the key to achieving objectives on:

- Child Health- Maternal health- Reproductive health, and - Measures to prevent other

infectious diseases.

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Strategies continue..

2. Adoption of an Integrated Management of Adolescents and Adults Illness to achieve increased, effective & comprehensive Anti-Retro-Viral treatment results by ‘Rapid rolling-out the Anti-retro-viral treatment programme .

Implications: budgetary; staff training, and effective information dissemination.

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Strategies continue..

3. Research into national health issues and experiences through workshops and conferences.

4. Undertaking Preventive immunisation campaigns’

5. Upgrading existing infra-structure and constructing new facilities to keep pace with population growth.

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Strategies continue..

6. Cultivating and maintaining Cordial Donor- Host Relationship.

7. Constant training of new and old personnel.

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Outcomes

1. Increased accessibility of public health services to women and girl-children.

2. Increased dissemination of information on diseases/illnesses and on what preventive action to take.

3. Sustained donor contribution towards government’s effort to achieve the MDGs.

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Outcomes continue…

4. At Independence (in 1990) there was only one major hospital, now Namibia has:1 National Hospital; 3 Intermediate Hospitals; 34 District Hospitals; 44 Health Centre; and 267 Primary Care Clinics.

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Outcomes continue..Goals and indicators 1990/1993

BaselineCurrentStatus (2008)

2006 target

2012 target

Target/ goal achievable?

Children under five, malnourished, stunted, in % of all children under five

28.4 24.2 - 18 Possible

Share of women employed in non-agriculture (percent)

39 47 - 50 Likely.

Reduce child mortality

Infant mortality rate deaths per 1,000 live births

56.6 49 36 38 Unlikely

Under-five mortality rate deaths per 1,000 live births

83.2 69 54 45 Unlikely

Share of one-year old children immunized against measles (percent)

75.7 83.8 80 85 Likely

Improve maternal health

Maternal mortality rate, deaths per 100,000 live births

225 449 268 337 Unlikely

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Goals and indicators 1990/1993Baseline

CurrentStatus (2008)

2006 target

2012 target

Target/ goal achievable?

Birth attendance by trained health personnel (percent)

68 81 88 95 Likely

Use of contraceptives (percent) 23 47 50 56.6 Likely

Adolescent birth rate (percent) 22 15 - 13 Likely

Ante-natal care coverage (percent) 56 70 - 80 Likely

Unmet need for family planning (percent) 24 7 - 6* Likely

HIV/AIDS

HIV prevalence, 15 – 19 years (percent) 6 5.1 9 8 Achieved

HIV prevalence, 20 – 24 years (percent) 11 14.0 15% 12 Possible

People living with HIV, 15 – 49 years (percent)

- 15.3 - - Lack of data

Condom use at the last higher-risk sex, women 15 – 24 years (percent)

- 64 45 - Lack of data

Condom use at the last higher-risk sex, men 15 – 24 years (percent)

- 81 - - Lack of data

Outcomes continue..

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Outcomes continue..

Tuberculosis, Malaria

TB cases detected per 100,000 population

656 765 - <300 Possible - Likely

TB cases treated successfully (percent)

64 76 75 85 Likely

Incidence of malaria per 1000 population

207 48 - Halt and begin to reverse

Achieved

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Goals and indicators 1990/1993

Baseline

CurrentStatus (2008)

2006 target

2012 target

Target/ goal achievable?

Protected areas 14 18 15 20 Likely Communal conservancies 0 14 11 15 Likely

Freehold land conservancies 5 6 9 10 Unlikely Community forestry (ha) 0.0 460000 300000 2.5 mio Possible Percent households with access to safe drinking water Urban 99 97 95 100 Possible Rural 74 80 80 87 LikelyPercent households with access to basic sanitation

Urban 86 58 - 98 Unlikely Rural 14 14 50 65 Unlikely Official development assistance to (per capita $)

80 88 (2006) - 90 Likely

* NDP3, **1993/1994

Outcomes continue..

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Outcomes continue..

Internet users, per 100 population - 4.8 - - Lack of data

Cell phone subscribers, per 100 population, 16 years and older

- 49 - - Lack of data

Telephone lines, per 100 households - 34.6 - - Lack of data

Challenges

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• Financially and materially sustain the effectiveness of the programmes on:

- primary health care

- Child mortality- Maternal Mortality- Reproductive health, and - Measures to prevent other infectious diseases.

- immunization- HIV/AIDS- nutrition- poverty, and others

Education and GenderMDG 2

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The Strategies

The strategies are based on government's commitment to achieve comprehensive capacity building objectives in line with the objectives of Vision 2030 which seek to see Namibia become

‘A prosperous and industrialized society developed by own human resources enjoying peace, harmony and political stability’.

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Rationale Strategies on Education: NMDG2

Historically women have been the most disadvantaged educationally. Government sought to rectify that through strategies that can have long term developmental empowerment of women and make them economically independent.

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Strategy One

1. Education and Training Sector Improvement Programme (ETSIP).

Objective:To strategically guide the provision of public education

and training in order to ensure achievement of Vision 2030 objectives with an intentional bias to empower women.

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Accompanying Policy Instruments

Education for All Policy – with focus on Primary & Secondary Schools:

- Net enrollment- Youth literacy (15-24 years)- Survival rate at Grade 8- Access to tertiary Institutions,

particularly by women.

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Accompanying Instruments

Education Sector Policy for the Prevention and Management of Learner Pregnancy

Goal:To promote the continued education of

pregnant learners and to ensure equal treatment of female and male learners.

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Strategy Two

2. Establishment of Namibia College of Open Learning (NAMCOL).

Goal:Provision of additional opportunities in the event of

failure the first, or being deprived the freedom to rejoin the mainstream after dropping out for various reasons, which often happened to girls who became pregnant, or forced out of school by cultural practices.

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Strategy Three

3. Re-training and Continued Upgrading of Teachers Qualification Combined with Introduction of Attractive Incentives to entice qualified teachers to take up positions in the Rural Areas, & increasing the quantity & quality of teaching material.

• Goals: Improve teaching skills .• Improve educational equity nationally.• Ensure value for the huge budget allocated for

national capacity building through education.

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Outcomes

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Goals and indicators 1990/1993Baseline

CurrentStatus (2008)

2006 target

2012 target

Target/ goal achievable?

Achieve universal primary education

Net primary school enrolment (percent) 89 92.3 95 99.1 Unlikely

Youth literacy rate (percent) 88 93 94 100* Unlikely

Survival rate grade 5 (percent) 70 94 95 99.2 Possible

Survival rate grade 8 (percent) 59 81 - 80.2 Achieved

Females per 100 males in

Primary education 102 98 100+ 100 Likely

Secondary education 124 117 100+ 100 Achieved

Tertiary education 175 88 100+ 100 Possible

Literacy 106 103 100 100 Achieved

Share of women employed in non-agriculture (percent)

39 47 - 50 Likely.

Share of seats held by women in parliament (percent)

6.9 26.9 26.9 50 Possible

Challenges

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• Stereotypes, specially it terms of education for women.

• Raising passing percentages particularly at Grade 10 and Grade 12 levels given the 30% of the national budget allocated for education annually.

• Making available adequate infra-structure and well trained teachers at all levels.

• Shortage of teaching and learning material.

Poverty and Gender MDG 1

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Strategies

Rationale for MDG 1 in Namibia:Poor population: 28%Severely poor: 4 %Rural population: +65% Rural women: 53%Vision 2030 seeks to see the country developed.Equal rights & the rights for women in all human

activities, in particular, Economic Endeavours.36

Strategy One

1. Creation of an enabling environment in which women can have access to economic opportunities and autonomy across the board.

Instruments:i. Policies for financial institutions.ii. Intensification of job creation programmes.iii. Improvement of business climate for women.

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Instruments Continue

iv. Affirmative Action, Land Resettlement, andEqual Opportunity policies

Implementation:- Arms of government.- Private Institutions’ voluntary compliance with government policies.- Private individuals.

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Strategy Two

2. Establishment of Koshi Yomuti[Definition: Banking under a tree’].‘A financial outfit established to assist women, in particular rural women involved with small business enterprises by offering banking and credit services’.

It was modeled after SUSU of West Africa.

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Koshi Yomuti: Modus Operandi

• Governed by the Division of Cooperative Development in the Ministry of Water and Forestry.

• Catered for the rural poor, in particular women (92% women).

• Products: - Loans- Servings- Training

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Modus Operandi Continues

• Provided ‘one on one’ consultation on how to run small businesses.

• Provided 5 training sessions to new clients.• Advise clients to serve through the post office.• Used mobile facilities (bicycles/motorbikes).• Offered differentiated loans to individuals and

groups.

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Outcomes

• Many women benefited.• Helped to create relative success in reducing

rural poverty.• Its success convinced Government to provide

support in:- Credit for working capital or investment- Business planning to get a loan- Provide information on business.

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Outcomes continue..

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Goals and indicators 1990/1993Baseline

CurrentStatus (2008)

2006 target

2012 target

Target/ goal

achievable?

Poor HH (including severely poor HH), % of all HH

38** 28 28 19* Possible

Severely poor HH, % of all HH 9** 4 4 3.5* AchievedUnemployment rate, broad concept, nationwide in percent

34. 5

(1997)

36.7 33.8 33.3 Possible

Employment growth, % p.a., average in period

- - 2.6 2.6 -- 3.2

Possible

GDP growth rate p.a., average percent in period

3.6 4.7 4.3 5.0 - 6.5

Possible

Gini-coefficient 0.701 0.6 0.58 Likely

Challenges

• Economic reclassification of Namibia as an ‘Upper Middle class’ country while poverty, particularly among women, is still rampart.

• It is difficult to convince major financial institutions to provide –with minimum if not without collateral-access to rural women intending to undertake microfinance businesses.

• It is not easy create enough jobs to absorb High School leavers and graduates from tertiary Institutions yearly.

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Challenges under poverty continue

• How to establish a cross-cutting national budget on gender that can serve to enhance effective articulation of gender issues and requirements at different levels in all arms of government.

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General Challenges

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General Challenges

• Categorization of Namibia as an “upper-middle-income-economy”

• Costly access to international finance capital – creating a serious impediment to her developmental agenda.

• Dwindling international support

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