The Namibian Parliament recently signed a cooperation agreement with the Inter-Parliamentary Union to fund and facilitate capacity building undertakings aimed at advancing gender equality in Namibia. This was announced in a media statement issued by the Parliament on Wednesday. National Assembly Speaker, Peter Katjavivi and Vice Chairperson of the National Council, Victoria Kauma, signed the cooperation agreement on behalf of the Namibian Parliament, while Secretary General Martin Chungong, signed on behalf of the IPU in Manama, Bahrain, where a Namibian Parliamentary Delegation attended the of the 146th Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Assembly and Related Meetings which took place 11 to 15 March 2023. The statement said the training will target women members of Parliament (MPs), female staff members and will look at important issues such as strategic planning and future functioning of the joint women’s parliamentary caucus, lobbying, advocacy, gender mainstreaming and gender responsive budgeting, among many other areas of interest. In the same vein, Katjavivi, during his address at the IPU General Debate, said as a result of the Namibian government implementing policies that ensure equal representation of women and youth in government and decision-making positions, the amount of women representation in Namibia’s parliament has increased to 48 per cent, while youth representation stands at 5 per-cent.
Source: NAMPA