The Ministry of Gender Equality and Child Welfare in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Namibia Country Office and the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, also known as UN Women held a five-day training workshop on Gender Analysis and Gender Responsive Budgeting (GRB) at the Heja Lodge, outside Windhoek.

The workshop which was held from 17-21 September is a fulfillment of the Government’s commitment under the National Gender Policy 2010/2020 and the National GRB Guideline as per the Cabinet Decision No 2nd/11.03.14/007. The workshop was attended by representatives from various line ministries including the Ministry of Gender Equality and Child Welfare, Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry, Ministry of Environment and Tourism amongst others and was facilitated by Gender Advisors from the Regional Service Centre based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

The workshop aimed to heighten the capacity of government officials specializing in research and child welfare on gender-analysis for Offices, Ministries and Agencies to enable them to acquire essential knowledge, attitudes and skills to effectively conduct a gender analysis into budget and planning process using GRB tools. Furthermore, the training was designed to enhance the capacity of government staff in conducting gender analysis and to identify gender issues that leads to gender inequalities, and in return to fulfill the targets of SDG 5. In addition, the training workshop enables the government to accurately design specific interventions in policy, plans and budget priorities to address gender imbalances and poverty.

The Gender Equality and Research Director at the Ministry of Gender Equality and Child Welfare Mr. Victor Shipoh encouraged every citizen to make gender issues a priority and stated that every component of society has to do with gender. The Directorate of Gender Equality and Research aims to mainstream a gender perspective into new and existing policies, programs, action plans and budgets across all sectors.

Additionally, it aims to mainstream a gender perspective into new and existing national legislations in all sectors and promote and coordinate the implementation of the National Gender Policy and its plans of action. Furthermore, it aims to monitor and evaluate the implementation of the National Gender policy, national, regional, and international legal instruments and provide periodic reports.