CCA COMMON COUNTRY ANALYSIS 2023

However, Namibia is a highly unequal country, exacerbated by factors including the economic downturn since 2016, climate-related disasters,the COVID-19 pandemic, and the recent Russia/Ukraine war, reversing progress in some Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Yet prospects for innovative policy and programme implementation and development financing position the country towards a notable path for SDG acceleration.

PEOPLE AND LEAVING NO ONE BEHIND (LNOB) Namibia’s commitment to the allocation of resources to the social sector remains commendable. As has been the trend, social sectors accounts for the largest share of the budget at 50.7%. However, aligning the inputs with the outcomes remains a concern. School enrolment figures look impressive but increasing dropout and failure rates remain a concern. Grade 1 at 17.9 percent (Female15.0/ Male 20.6); Grade 4 at 18.1 percent (Female 13.9/Male 21.9) and Grade 8, 22.8 percent (Female 21.0 /Male 24.7) an indication that learners are progressing to higher grades without having mastered the required basic competencies for the higher grades, resulting in high dropout rates in the higher grades.

Namibia has made progress in health outcomes, as reflected in the increase of life expectancy, and by the overall health status of the population. Government spending on health at an estimated 13.9% of total budget and 5.0% of GDP, is below the Abuja declaration that stipulates an investment of at least 15% of the total budget to the health sector. 

The country performs poorly on health outcomes compared to the UMIC average, where Namibia has 0.6 physicians and 2 nurses per 1000 people compared to the UMIC average of 2.3 and 3.3, respectively. The sparse population hinders access especially in rural areas. Food and nutrition insecurity remains high and compares to UMICS especially for stunting exacerbated by the rural/urban divide and multidimensional poverty which affects more women and children. The multidimensional poverty incidence (H) is reported at 43.3 percent, meaning that 43.3 percent of the population of Namibia is multidimensional poor. 

The incidence of multidimensional poverty amongst female-headed households at 46% than for male-headed households at 41%. Children in Namibia are most affected by multidimensional poverty, which stands at 56% for children aged 1-4 years, 50% for children aged 5-9 years and 48% for children aged 10-14 years1. Furthermore, approximately 16% of children in Namibia aged 0-17 years are both multidimensionally and monetarily poor2, with major impact on future productive capacity and benefits of the demographic dividend. Despite the progress in the institutional framework to promote gender equality, poverty remains gendered, with continued unequal access to, control over, and benefit from an uneven distribution of productive resources including capital and land, gender-based violence remains a rampant violation of human rights. 

Violence against children and adolescents persist regardless of protective comprehensive legislation and national frameworks. Indigenous peoples face multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination and disadvantage and are at risk of being left furthest behind. Thus, a number of groups remain at risk of being left behind with there being dire need to maintain the momentum for social protection, extending opportunities and integrated service delivery to all Namibians, particularly the most vulnerable and marginalized communities. Social justice, linking the economy to social outcomes is an imperative.