SOCIAL AND POLITICAL ISSUES FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT - THE NAMIBIAN EXPERIENCE

1. SOCIAL AND POLITICAL ISSUES FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT - THE NAMIBIAN EXPERIENCE Master class Strategy Innovation and Organisational Leadership, 16-18 June 2016, Lusaka, Zambia by Dr. Vincent M. Mwange

2. Overview • Exploration of achievements of social and political issues for sustainable development in Namibia, since independence in 1990. • Namibian constitution • Promote it’s people welfare vs. Disparity between Blacks and Whites • Urban vs. Rural areas • New wealth vs. Impoverishment of the majority • Women’s rights (formal and customary law)

3. INTRODUCTION Background of Namibia • German Protectorate in 1884; a Crown Colony in 1890, and became known as South West Africa. • 1990 Namibia gained independence • Constitution • supreme law of the nation and brought in the principle of constitutionalism, the rule of law, and respect for the human rights of individuals.

4. Social sustainable development • Social development issues: poverty, inequality, hunger, unemployment, education, health and environmental degradation • Hedgcock(1993: 140), “Social sustainability encompasses human rights, labor rights, and corporate governance. …is the idea that future generations should have the same or greater access to social resources as the current generation, while there should also be equal access to social resources within the current generation…”

5. Governance and rule of law • The Preamble of the Namibia’s Constitution: • the inherent dignity and equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family; the rights of the individual to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, regardless of race, colour, ethnic origin, sex religion, creed or social or economic status; desire to secure to all our citizens justice, liberty, equality and fraternity. • Is government, as a social system, able to provide such a function at the levels of social wellbeing of the people?

6. to build a Namibia that will be valued by the next generation. Introduction of national reconciliation Anational spirit of justice, dignity and the right to pursue happiness has been created and infused. For example, freedom of movement has created tolerance, social mixing and homogeneity Discrimination against Women • Defined as legal minors • Married Person's Equality Bill • Child Maintenance Law & the Domestic Violence Law

7. Poverty and inequality – the problem • Hunger is primarily caused by poverty that is the result of the interaction between political, social and economic factors (Kent, 1984). • Poverty Reduction Strategy and Action Programme (1998), to give a direction to the way poverty should be addressed. • Short term goal • create more opportunities to generate an income • (diversifying agriculture, promoting small and medium enterprises, community-based tourismand grants, such as the old-age pension and the orphans grant).

8. Long term goal • ensure economic growth by developing the transport and manufacturing sector in Namibia • (Ministry for poverty eradication and social welfare, improved quality of education and primary health care). • Other poverty reducing initiatives include: • Namibian Constitution, Chapter 11 – Principles of State Policy • Article 95 – Promotion of the Welfare of the People • DecentralisationPolicy • National Development Plans 1-5 • Vision 2030 • Harambee Prosperity Plan 2016-2020

9. Education • 2015/16 national budget an amount of N$ 24 billion was allocated to the social sector • By 2012, basic education was accessible to about 92 per cent of the school-going population • However, qualified teachers is still an issue • School feeding programme run by government & World Food Programme • Free education (ages 6 to 16), mostly state owned schools & 3 Universities (UNAM, Namibia University of Science and Technology& the International University of Management)

10. Healthcare • HIV/AIDS is one of the largest problems Namibia is facing • However, public health has been expanded with corresponding improvement in the quality of life • Malaria • compounded by the AIDS epidemic. Research shows that the risk of contracting malaria is 14.5% greater if a person is also infected with HIV. • The risk of death from malaria is also raised by approximately 50% with a concurrent HIV infection

11. Political Issues for Sustainable Development • Namibia’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) Annual Growth Rate averaged 4.8 per cent from 1990 to 2015, reaching an all-time high of 21 per cent in the third quarter of 2004. The expected GDP Growth rate is 5.04 per cent in 2020 • Extreme uneven distribution of income, with the wealthiest of the population that constitutes 5 per cent controlling 70 per cent of the GDP vs. the majority of Namibians who comprise 64 of the rural population, are engaged in subsistence farming and are vulnerable to food shortages (Orange-Senqu, 2016). • Namibia’s democratic transformation is characterized by two historical trends: • 1. On-going socio-political disparity of the population, which has its roots in the discriminatory policies of the colonial rulers. • 2. political culture

12. Independence of the Judicial • Government of the Republic of Namibia is separated into three branches: Executive, Legislative, Judiciary • Judicial independence flourishes in Namibia • For example, the opposition Congress of Democrats (CoD) and others vs. the election outcome on the account of ballot papers and the counting of votes. • Namibia has undergone three smooth transition of power of the country’s presidency (Sam Nujoma- HifikepunyePohamba- current President, Hage Geingob).

13. Conclusion • Development initiative + human development as an objective = eradication of poverty • Despite government efforts in addressing issues of sustainable development, the country is vulnerable to short and long term environmental jolts as all major sources of growth depend heavily on Namibia’s delicate environment as well as the prevailing peace and political stability in the country.