Gender equality ambitions an illusion: Activists

• By Frieda Uyumba

YOUNG  Namibian leaders say the country’s ranking in the 2023 Global Gender Gap Index tells part of the story.

According to the Global Gender Gap Index, Namibia has closed the gender gap by 80.2 per cent, placing it eighth among the top-ranked countries for gender equality.

Namibia ranks 19 in the world regarding Economic Participation and Opportunity, with a gender parity score of 78.4 per cent.

Women comprise 56 per cent of technical workers and 43.6 per cent of senior executives.

The index says Namibia has a Political Empowerment score of 44.3 per cent, parity with 44.2 per cent female legislators and 31.6 per cent female ministers representation.

According to the 2023 Global Gender Gap Index, while the country has made progress in economic parity, there has been a recent slowdown, mainly due to losses in parity in estimated earned income and labour force participation rates since 2018.

Student leader Duminga Ndala feels more needs to be done and that the hurdles that prevent women from rising through the ranks should be removed.

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