National Council chairperson Lukas Sinimbo Muha said the Namibian government believes that gender equality and empowerment of women and girls are crucial for the country’s development.
Muha made these remarks during a panel discussion of the Inter-Parliamentary Union Fifth World Conference of Speakers of Parliament in Vienna, Austria which took place from 06 to 08 September 2021, under the topic ‘Repealing laws that discriminate against women and girls is the only path towards achieving gender equality’.
He said to ensure that Namibian women and girls have equal opportunities to participate in socio-economic and political life, provision is made in article 10 and 23 of the Namibian Constitution discouraging discrimination against women and promoting women’s participation in the political, social and economic life.
“In addition to the Constitution, the government has enacted several gender-related laws such as the Married Persons Equality Act; Labour Act; Combating of Rape Act; Domestic Violence Act; Maintenance Act; Prevention of Organised Crime Act; Child Care and Protection Act and Combating of Trafficking in Persons Act. Through implementation of these instruments, Namibia made notable progress in the areas of education, health, politics and governance. Apart from politics, Namibian women have entered economic industries which were previously male-dominated,” said Muha.
He added that despite these opportunities that some Namibian women have, they still face challenges such as poverty, gender-based violence and lack of economic opportunities and these downfalls were worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdowns.
“Gender equality and women’s empowerment contribute to women’s access to public leadership roles, whether in politics, the legal profession, business sector, academia and sports which remains elusive in some countries,” stated Muha.
He took the opportunity to say that World Athletics should repeal its “controversial and discriminatory” rule on women with high testosterone used against women in sports, which was also used against two Namibian sprinters – Christine Mboma and Beatrice Masilingi, who were banned from competing in the 400m race at the recently concluded 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Source: The Namibia Press Agency
