Government doing a good job on gender equality – survey
Namibia still has work to ensure full equality despite being a leader in gender representation, according to a recent Afrobarometer research.
According to the research, the country performs well on many gender-equality indicators, including gender representation in governance. According to the Inter-Parliamentary Union (2017), Namibia currently ranks 12th globally and fourth on the African continent for the proportion of women in Parliament.
According to the latest Afrobarometer survey findings, Namibians want more of this as they believe that not only should gender quotas be applied more broadly in both the National Assembly and in Regional Councils to bring about greater gender equality, but they also feel that the performance of the National Assembly has improved in recent years due to the increased number of women in this house.
“On the whole, Namibians believe that the government is doing a good job on gender equality and prevention of gender-based violence, and more than two-thirds of citizens say that equal opportunities and treatment of women are better now than they were a few years ago,” the findings showed.
That said, survey findings also demonstrate that much work remains to be done to ensure that Namibians fully experience the gender equality envisaged in Namibia’s Constitution and gender policies.
Despite strong gender-equality attitudes, 14% of Namibians said they experienced discrimination based on their gender during the previous year, and a majority believe that it is better for women to have the main responsibility of taking care of the home and children.
