New Era

WINDHOEK - Under the theme 'Equal Rights, Equal Opportunities: Progress for All', Namibian women celebrated International Women's Day on Monday along with the rest of the world.

"The 8th March is a day when women from around the world, irrespective of their countries of origin, ethnic background, political affiliation, cultural differences, economic and social status come together as one to celebrate their day," said Minister of Gender Equality and Child Welfare, Marlene Mungunda.

She said women have struggled for a long time to be afforded the opportunity to participate in decision making on an equal footing with their male counterparts.

She added that this year's theme cements the commitment made by the Namibian Government nationally, regionally and internationally, adding that nationally, Namibia has a national gender policy that calls for gender equality, women's access to resources and participation in decision making at all levels of society.

"The SADC Protocol and the AU Charter both demand for 50/50 women representation in politics and management by 2015 and 2020 respectively," she said.

Fabian Byomuhangi, United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) representative in Namibia, said from a statement by United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon that gender equality and women's empowerment are fundamental to the global mission of the United Nations to achieve equal rights and dignity for all.

He said until all women and girls are liberated from poverty and injustice, all goals, peace, security and sustainable development stand in jeopardy.

"Fifteen years ago at the Fourth World Conference on Women, governments pledged to advance equality, development and peace for all women everywhere," he said.

According to Mungunda, women's poverty is directly linked to important economic resources, such as land ownership and capital to start up business, access to education because of insufficient funding, support services and minimal participation in decision making, all of which she says are obstacles to the development of women.

Mungunda added that women face another obstacle, which is the imposition of care work on women and girls, saying this is enormous and is an obstacle to gender equality and women's development.

She stated that this in turn robs children of their childhood, forcing them to drop out of school due to time spent caring for others with meager resources.

"One key lesson of the past decade and a half is the importance of addressing broader discrimination and injustice. Gender stereotyping and discrimination remain common in all cultures and community," said Byomuhangi.

He said early and forced marriage, so-called honour killings, sexual abuse and trafficking of young women and girls are disturbingly widespread.

"Namibian women are progressing slowly but surely. You see now that there are women coming up as business personalities, managing their own businesses," said Mungunda.

She said Namibia has also recorded a number of students enrolling in fields such as engineering, law, different sciences, to name a few, which were previously only male dominated.

"For our country to develop, we have to work in partnership, as Namibian men and women having one goal in mind, that of gender equality," Mungunda said.

She stressed the need to get male involvement, saying a culture that involves men in the care-giving service in both the private and public sector will mark a milestone to achieve gender equality to the fullest in Namibia.

"We need to build a culture that encourages men to get involved in unpaid domestic labour, including provision of care.

"Through this process, domestic responsibilities will be shared equally between men and women and it leads to an improved peace in homes, health and the wellbeing of both women and men, boys and girls.

"For the country to develop, people have to work in partnership, as Namibian men and women having one goal in mind - that of gender equality, said Mungunda.

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