Regional councils fail parity testOnly 20 female councillors out of 121 Namibia is showing significant progress in terms of female representation in the political arena, as well as in high school and tertiary enrolment, but regional councils are lagging far behind.
Despite giant gender parity strides, including Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah being elected as Swapo vice-president last year, the country's regional councils remain male-dominated, with only 20 female councillors out of a total of 121.
This is according to gender ministry permanent secretary Valencia Uiras who was speaking last week at a network breakfast on International Women's Day held under the theme 'From Peace in the Home, to Peace in Namibia: Press for Progress'.
Uiras highlighted Nandi-Ndaitwah's Swapo vice-presidency election, which puts her in pole position to succeed President Hage Geingob after the anticipated completion of his second term as head of state in 2025, should he win next year's presidential elections.
However, in the same breath Uiras said only 20 women had been elected as regional councillors in 2015 out of 121 councillors.
“We have regions that do not have any female regional councillors; in this regard the Omaheke and Zambezi regional councils stand out.”
The Hardap, //Karas, Kavango East, Kavango West, Kunene, Ohangwena and Omusati regional councils each have only one woman on their councils.
Meanwhile the Erongo, Oshana and Oshikoto regional councils each have two female representatives, while Khomas and Otjozondjupa have the most female councillors, with women occupying four of the 10 constituency seats in Khomas Region and three of the seven seats in Otjozondjupa. As of May last year there were 57 local authorities with women holding the position of mayor in 18 (32%) and the deputy mayor posts in 24 (42%).
Uiras said this means women comprised 37% of the total number of people in both positions.
However, women accounted for only seven of the 57 chief executive officers of local authorities (12%), who are appointed by the councils.
She added currently 29.4% of permanent secretaries and 41% of deputy permanent secretaries are female, while female directors stand at 42% and deputy directors at 48%.
Only 20% of private sector CEO positions are held by women, with Uiras adding there is however a significant increase in the appointment of females on the board of directors (49.5%).
According to women currently occupy 75% registrars of the court posts and 33% of presidents of the courts positions, while 20.8% of judges are women and 49.5% of the country's magistrates.
Uiras said the unemployment rate is higher for females than for males, and the gap is widening.
In 2016, 51% of males aged 15 and above were working, compared to 41% of females,
“Unemployment is particularly acute for rural women. Women who are unemployed tend to be out of work for longer than men who are unemployed.”
According to her between 2006 and 2013, approximately 33% of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Namibia had female participation in ownership and 27% of firms in Namibia had a female top manager, compared with 16% in sub-Saharan Africa.
With regard to education, Uiras she said gender parity in enrolment for female students at institutions of higher learning is being realised and in some instances has far exceeded the enrolment of male students.
For example, in 2017 enrolment for female students at the Namibia University for Science and Technology (NUST) stood at 50.3% compared to 49.7% for male students and at the University of Namibia (UNAM) female enrolment figures stood at 65%, compared to 35% males.
“This scenario could be attributed to large numbers of females enrolled in female-dominated fields of study such as nursing and education. We are however not seeing significant increases of enrolment in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.”
In Namibia 51% the population are women and 49% are men, while 44% of households in the country are headed by females.
According to Uiras while the overall unemployment rate for the country stands at 36%, the unemployment rate for women is 38% while for men it stands at 30%.
“We are showing a positive increase in numbers in areas that are already and will significantly influence the quality of leadership and influence women can make in our country.” Uiras said at independence, inequality and minimal respect for the advancement and role of women was the order of the day.
“However, Namibia has since made great strides and can pride itself as a nation that can stand out at any international platform and acknowledge the positive progress that has been made to ensure that women count,” said Uiras.
She pointed out that Namibia has a parliament that evolved from only having five woman in its first National Assembly to 48 women in its sixth National Assembly (2015-2020).
“The proportion of women in parliament is currently 40% compared to our first parliament at only 6%.
This achievement has resulted in the ranking of Namibia among the top African countries which advanced women in politics and decision-making structures.”
ELLANIE SMIT