Doreen Sioka
Doreen Nampiye Sioka (born 1960) is a Namibian politician. She is member of the National Assembly of Namibia since 1994 for the South West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO), and a member of the cabinet since 2005, serving as Minister of Gender Equality, Poverty Eradication and Social Welfare.
Quotes
[edit]- We must fight GBV by changing our behaviors and strengthen our society
- Now I come to girls baby dumping. How can you drop babies ? We have been telling you if you don't want the pregnancy let it be there ,give the child to the ministry of gender or give it to the ministry. In fact we have got a unity which is created specifically. We can look after those babies ,you remain in your street . Important thing is you register yourself that this is my child when I will be ok I will come and pick up my child ,the government will never deny you.
- To be frank, I am not satisfied with the general representation of women. But Namibia has made strides, and there is political will [to achieve gender parity], and we will achieve it in the near future
Read more: Global parliament gender gap persists **[3]
- Before I leave, I will leave you with a 50/50 legacy
Read more: Global parliament gender gap persists
- Our fellow women in other political parties now do understand the 50/50 concept. After 2024, we will make it. As a country, we are doing well
Read more: Global parliament gender gap persists
- This is a period of the campaign, and beyond Namibia aligns herself and adopts the UN international theme of for the 16 days of activism against GBV, which reads and I quote: 'Unite Activism to End Violence against Women and Girls". This theme calls on all of us women, men, girls, and boys to unite in the fight against GBV, the theme implores on government, civic society, non-governmental organizations, faith-based organizations, the private sector, and all members of society to employ a multi-sectoral approach to end violence against women and girls.
- I am delighted to be part of this important event and to be accorded an opportunity to share experiences of my country as well as to learn from other sister countries.
- The government of the Republic of Namibia recognizes that gender equality is a
prerequisite for sustainable development. However, the absence of readily available statistics has hindered proper tracking of the progress of effective intervention aimed at women’s empowerment and gender equality.
- The value of sex disaggregated data cannot be underestimated, therefore, it gives me great pleasure to inform this gathering that through the United Economic
Commission for Africa (UNECA) has introduced the African Gender and Development Index (AGDI) for Namibia and consequently developed the Namibia Gender and Developed Index (NGDI) report setting out where we are making progress in terms of gender equality and empowerment of women in the economic, social and political spheres and the progress government has made in implementing regional and international gender instruments. I am very pleased that the findings of the AGDI report show that the country is making significant progress; and the African Gender and Development Index Report for Namibia will enable government, civil society organizations, development partners and the private sector to implement and support programmes that will reduce gender gaps.
- Namibia is among the countries that enshrines empowerment of women in her
constitution, legal and policy frameworks; recognising that women has suffered double discrimination in terms of apartheid laws as well as harmful traditional and cultural practices.
- Furthermore, we have joined other countries that have instituted a wage order for setting minimum wage and supplementary minimum conditions for the employment of
domestic workers. However domestic workers’ wages are still the lowest compared to other forms of employment. We have also enacted the Procurement Act No. 15 of 2015, which provides for the promotion, facilitation and strengthening of measures to empower women and youth. As we all know participation of women in the procurement processes is vital for women’s economic empowerment.
- In terms of education women and girls continue to outperform men and boys at all
levels of education in terms of both enrolment and graduation for example in 2017 females enrolled at University of Science and Technology (NUST) and University of Namibia (UNAM) stood at 50.3% and 65.3% respectively, while graduation stood at 58% and 66% respectively in 2016. Madam Moderator
- Land is a critical element for the economic empowerment for women, and in the
case of Namibia many Namibians including women, through the protracted war for liberation as well as the policies of apartheid became dispossessed and displaced from their land. The National Resettlement Policy of 2001(now under revision) was adopted to ensure redress of the past injustices and about 41% (NWEEF) of women have been resettled. Availability of land has led to women taking part into agronomic activities for self-sustenance and income generation.
- For Namibia, investing in women and girls makes economic sense for various reasons:
Namibian women forms the majority of the population, representing more than 51%. Furthermore, poverty is still more pronounced among women especially female headed households at 32%. Although women and girls outperform men and boys in education at all levels, as I mentioned earlier, this performance is yet to be translated into meaningful economic gains as unemployment is highest among young women at 49.4% in accordance with the Labour Force Survey of 2016.
- To ensure that Women are systematically empowered, Namibia with the support of
UN Women and United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) is drafting a National Women Economic Empowerment Framework (NWEEF). The goal of NWEEF is to create a conducive environment for women to participate in and benefit from the Namibian economic sectors irrespective of race, sex, colour, ethnic origin, religion, creed or social economic status so as to enhance women’s participation in high value-added sectors such as mining and tourism. In this framework, Namibia is defining women economic empowerment, identifying strategic economic pillars for the empowerment of women and defining indicators and targets. This is still work in progress and lessons from other countries are welcome.