Thinking beyond Namibian borders

During my adulthood, international travel and having conversations about Namibia have always had one recurring feature whenever one is asked about Namibia’s population. Answering that we are only 2.5 million people in our country is always met with an assumption that our problems are surmountable. While attending a women empowerment conference in Amsterdam six years ago, a city with more than 800 000 residents at the time, colleagues could not fathom the poverty, unemployment and inequality challenges that Namibia faced. In neighbouring South Africa, all Namibians can fit in a township called Khayelitsha. This township has more than 2.5 million inhabitants. We are a small population in a rich country with disproportionate socioeconomic challenges. It’s a developmental puzzle. Our youth are the most affected. Most of them are either unemployed or unemployable. A considerable number of those employed are underemployed. Of those in school, only a few of them qualify for enrolment at our universities. In 2020 alone, more than 24 000 dropped out. Of the 46 977 learners that sat for the 2021 examination, only 8 817 qualified to progress to advanced subsidiary level subjects. That the state of our youth is deplorable is a serious understatement. The less is said about youth statutory institutions in the form of the National Youth Service and National Youth Council the better. The youth development agenda is set by youth civil society organisations, instead of these organisations receiving millions from state coffers. When we do hear about the youth and sport ministry, they are either bemoaning the lack of funds for youth programmes or the minister is announcing her unawareness of this or that challenge our youth face. We currently play our international soccer games outside of our country. There has been no football league for years and our sport commission has become famous for dysfunctionalities.A new imagination is required. It is an imagination that requires us to think beyond the borders of our country to broaden the horizons of our youth. Even advanced economies look outside their borders to achieve this objective for the benefit of their youth. The United States of America is one such example. Since our independence in 1990, the United States of America has sent more than 1 800 of their youth to our country through what is called the Peace Corps volunteers programme. These youth are sent to schools and communities across the 14 regions for a period of two years. Beyond broadening the horizons of their youth, this programme contributes to the attainment of the foreign policy goals of the government of the United States of America. What programme do we have for our youth and why don’t we have a similar programme? Namibia can introduce a similar volunteer’s programme to send our youth to several countries in the world. This country has diplomatic relations with more than 150 countries. Look outside More than 30 agreements and memorandum of understanding have been signed with several countries and international organisations. This programme would be spearheaded by our foreign affairs ministry and implemented through institutions such as the National Youth Council. That these institutions are dead should not blind us to the wonderful possibilities that can emerge from an imaginative and determined people concerned about the future of our country. In this age and era, where there seems to be no hope, ideas that can assist us to emerge out of this quagmire, are important and urgent. During the struggle for freedom and independence, my peers left the country in their numbers for employment and study opportunities. They broadened their horizons. Panduleni Itula left Namibia before independence only to return in 2013, and a few years later, he became Namibia’s first independent presidential candidate, reducing Geingob’s domineering share of the electoral votes from 87% in 2014 to a mere 56% in 2019. That in an independent Namibia, in a globalized context, our youth are inward-looking and sit around waiting for solutions and opportunities from a failing government, is one puzzle I still struggle to accept. We took opportunities during the difficult times. Such opportunities to travel and secure international opportunities were only available through institutions and organization frameworks. Nowadays, with the internet and social media, youth do not necessarily need institutional frameworks to find international opportunities. It is a puzzle that requires a different analysis. What we are concerned about today is for our government to ponder the possibility of a state-led programme that will expose our youth internationally. The advantages are many. Required: leadership that can stretch its imagination. Muthoni waKongola is a native of Kongola in the Zambezi Region, primarily concerned with analysing society and offering ideas for a better Namibia. She is reachable at wakongola@gmail.com or @wakongola on Twitter

Thinking beyond Namibian borders

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Namibian Sun 2024-11-25

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Thinking beyond Namibian borders

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Namibian Sun 2024-11-25

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