Namibia drops the ball on women's rights

Namibia has plunged 14 places and lost its spot as the best performer in Sub-Saharan Africa on an index that measures women's well-being and empowerment in homes, communities and societies. The Women, Peace and Security Index by the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Safety slashed Namibia's ranking from 48th in 2017 to 62nd this year. This resulted in Namibia losing its spot as the best performer in the region to Mauritius, which was ranked 60th. Mauritius was ranked 67th in the previous index of 2017. The index, released yesterday, ranks 167 countries in terms of inclusion, security and justice for women. Those three areas are broken down into specific categories, such as whether a woman has access to a mobile phone, feels safe walking home at night, or is surrounded by men who find it unacceptable for her to hold a paying job.It drew data from international organisations such as the International Labour Organisation, the United Nations, the World Bank, and others to provide comprehensive insights into women's well-being and empowerment in each country.According to the index, slightly more than 37% of women in Namibia feel safe in their neighbourhoods at night, up from 25% in the previous index. Intimate partner violence experienced by women during the past year slightly decreased from 25% to 20.2%. Namibia has a fairly high average for women's schooling of 7.2 years when compared to the global average of eight years. In 2017 Namibia's average for women's schooling was 10.3 years, though. The rate of women's financial inclusion in the country is also high at 80%, while in the previous index it was merely 56%. The employment rate of women aged 25 and older stands at 54.1%, which indicates a slight drop from the 55.1% in 2017. According to the index, close to 86% of women aged 15 and older now use a mobile phone compared to 83% in 2017, while the index says the parliamentary seats held by women have dropped to 23% from 39% in 2017. About 16% of Namibian men aged 15 and older find it unacceptable for a woman to hold a paying job. The figure is the same as in 2017. In the region, Rwanda was ranked 65th globally, South Africa 66th and Zimbabwe 74th. Globally, European countries dominated the top ten, with Norway ranked first, followed by Switzerland, Finland, Denmark, Iceland, Austria, the United Kingdom, Luxembourg, Sweden, and the Netherlands. The worst performers were Yemen, Afghanistan and Syria. ellanie@namibiansun.com ELLANIE SMIT

Namibia drops the ball on women's rights

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Namibian Sun 2025-09-18

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Namibia drops the ball on women's rights

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Namibian Sun 2025-09-18

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