Windhoek: The Minister of Gender Equality and Child Welfare, Emma Kantema, has urged mothers in distress to seek counselling and support instead of abandoning their babies.

According to Namibia Press Agency, Kantema made the call during a government information sharing session that focused on child neglect and abandonment alongside their causes and effects, as well as social responsibility. She emphasized the importance of mothers reaching out for help, especially when faced with challenging situations such as abusive relationships and poverty.

Kantema explained that counselling can provide mothers with an opportunity to assess their situation and explore various forms of assistance. Although she does not encourage abandonment, she highlighted legal channels available for mothers who cannot care for their babies, such as kinship care, adoption, and places of safety.

The minister warned against leaving infants in undesignated spaces like fire stations, schools, hospitals, and clinics, as this can lead to consequences. She concluded by noting that both mothers and fathers in need of assistance should reach out to the child welfare ministry and the Ministry of Health and Social Services.

In response to the problem of baby dumping in Namibia, the country's Child Care and Protection Act of 2019 decriminalised the action of abandoning healthy infants in a selected safe space to encourage mothers to refrain from unsafe abandonment.