The United Nations and the Government of Namibia convene for a pivotal workshop on the Global Accelerator as part of its preparations for the SDG Summit
Namibia joined the Global Accelerator (GA) as one of the pathfinder countries. A workshop was held by the United Nations and the Government of Namibia as well as major stakeholders to develop a roadmap towards implementation of the Global Accelerator.
13 September 2023
Windhoek (ILO News) –Recently the United Nations and the Government of Namibia have held a National Workshop of the Global Accelerator on Jobs, Social Protection and Just Transitions to identify policy and programme options for employment creation and breaking the cycle of poverty and income inequality by extending social protection coverage in Namibia.
The workshop gathered stakeholders from various sectors, including government ministries, trade unions, civil society, and the private sector.
The following outcomes are envisaged as possible entry points for the implementation of the Global Accelerator in Namibia: coordination of employment creation, expanding social protection coverage, youth employment and entrepreneurship and facilitating formalization of enterprises and jobs. The green energy, agriculture, fisheries, mining, and tourism were also identified as key sectors with the greatest potential to drive the transformation agenda towards more and better jobs and increased coverage of social protection for just transitions. Potential for the roll-out of the GA was also identified in the arts and culture; care economy; social and solidarity economy including pilot programmes based on community needs.
The GA framework is expected to assist Namibia in comprehensively addressing its long standing economic and developmental challenges on employment, inequalities and poverty. An added factor of the Global Accelerator implementation would be, among others, direct contribution to the implementation of national development plans, policies, and the achievement of various SDG indicators under SDG 1, 3, 4, 5, 8, 10 and 17; and indirectly to SDGs 4,7,10,13 and 16.
The roadmap will be submitted to the upcoming Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Summit, 17 to 19 September and will outline Namibia’s commitment for a coordinated national approach to employment creation, employment programmes for youth, expansion of social protection coverage, and formalization of the economy.
Namibia’s participation in the Global Accelerator comes after the President of the Republic of Namibia, H.E. Hage Geingob wrote to the UN Secretary General in April 2023. The President committed Namibia to placing jobs and social protection at the centre of its socio-economic agenda. He also acknowledged the complementary efforts underway to formulate a new National Employment Policy and using of employment impact assessments (EmpIAs) to inform budget and policy decision making.
The GA will also build on ongoing collaboration with the ILO and the UN Country Team on employment and gender responsive budgeting, the national pension fund, social protection systems strengthening and the assessment of the growth potential of new investments in green hydrogen, oil and gas.
At the opening of this workshop, Otniel Podewiltz, the Acting Executive Director of the Ministry of Labour, Industrial Relations, and Employment Creation, urged stakeholders to challenge conventional macro-economic approaches in proffering possible solutions for Namibia to tackle the vestiges of apartheid in the high levels of unemployment amongst the youths, inequality and poverty. He pointed out that the link between GDP growth and employment creation is not automatic. The government representative, Ms Louise Shixwameni, Deputy Executive Director for Public Enterprises at the Ministry of Finance and Public Enterprise, emphasized the relevance of aggressive investment in agriculture, coupled with ensuring decent wages as having the potential to create thousands of sustainable jobs and lift people out of poverty. Ms. Gift Malunga, Acting UN Resident Coordinator in Namibia, pointed to the importance of assisting the Government in implementing employment-creation strategies, particularly for the majority young people and women.
The UN and the Government of Namibia are committed to working collaboratively to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, focusing on creating a more equitable and prosperous future for all Namibians.
The workshop gathered stakeholders from various sectors, including government ministries, trade unions, civil society, and the private sector.
The following outcomes are envisaged as possible entry points for the implementation of the Global Accelerator in Namibia: coordination of employment creation, expanding social protection coverage, youth employment and entrepreneurship and facilitating formalization of enterprises and jobs. The green energy, agriculture, fisheries, mining, and tourism were also identified as key sectors with the greatest potential to drive the transformation agenda towards more and better jobs and increased coverage of social protection for just transitions. Potential for the roll-out of the GA was also identified in the arts and culture; care economy; social and solidarity economy including pilot programmes based on community needs.
The GA framework is expected to assist Namibia in comprehensively addressing its long standing economic and developmental challenges on employment, inequalities and poverty. An added factor of the Global Accelerator implementation would be, among others, direct contribution to the implementation of national development plans, policies, and the achievement of various SDG indicators under SDG 1, 3, 4, 5, 8, 10 and 17; and indirectly to SDGs 4,7,10,13 and 16.
The roadmap will be submitted to the upcoming Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Summit, 17 to 19 September and will outline Namibia’s commitment for a coordinated national approach to employment creation, employment programmes for youth, expansion of social protection coverage, and formalization of the economy.
Namibia’s participation in the Global Accelerator comes after the President of the Republic of Namibia, H.E. Hage Geingob wrote to the UN Secretary General in April 2023. The President committed Namibia to placing jobs and social protection at the centre of its socio-economic agenda. He also acknowledged the complementary efforts underway to formulate a new National Employment Policy and using of employment impact assessments (EmpIAs) to inform budget and policy decision making.
The GA will also build on ongoing collaboration with the ILO and the UN Country Team on employment and gender responsive budgeting, the national pension fund, social protection systems strengthening and the assessment of the growth potential of new investments in green hydrogen, oil and gas.
At the opening of this workshop, Otniel Podewiltz, the Acting Executive Director of the Ministry of Labour, Industrial Relations, and Employment Creation, urged stakeholders to challenge conventional macro-economic approaches in proffering possible solutions for Namibia to tackle the vestiges of apartheid in the high levels of unemployment amongst the youths, inequality and poverty. He pointed out that the link between GDP growth and employment creation is not automatic. The government representative, Ms Louise Shixwameni, Deputy Executive Director for Public Enterprises at the Ministry of Finance and Public Enterprise, emphasized the relevance of aggressive investment in agriculture, coupled with ensuring decent wages as having the potential to create thousands of sustainable jobs and lift people out of poverty. Ms. Gift Malunga, Acting UN Resident Coordinator in Namibia, pointed to the importance of assisting the Government in implementing employment-creation strategies, particularly for the majority young people and women.
The UN and the Government of Namibia are committed to working collaboratively to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, focusing on creating a more equitable and prosperous future for all Namibians.
| What is the Global Accelerator? The Global Accelerator (GA) on Decent Jobs and Social Protection for Just Transitions is an initiative of the UN Secretary-General launched in September 2021 to help countries address multiple crises, accelerate economic recovery while investing in decent jobs and social protection, and respond to current and future challenges (formalization, youth employment, gender equality, green transition, digital economy, etc.) while facilitating just transitions for all. The Global Accelerator aims to support the creation of 400 million decent jobs, the extension of social protection to the 4 billion people who are currently excluded, and to facilitate "just" transitions for all. The Global Accelerator works through three inter-connected pillars simultaneously: supports the development and implementation of integrated policy approaches to create productive jobs and achieve universal social protection; helps countries to develop and implement financing strategies using the full range of available funding sources that include tax revenues, social security contributions, debt reduction, and others; and seeks to elicit high-level buy-in and commitment among governments, social partners, civil society and the development community and facilitates effective intersectoral coordination and national social dialogue. Namibia is part of the “Pathfinder countries” that have expressed a high-level commitment to accelerating their efforts towards jobs and social protection for just transitions with the financial and technical support of the international community. Each country’s path is owned and defined by the government in collaboration with the social partners and with the support of UN agencies, International Financing Institutions (IFIs) and other stakeholders. It takes the form of a “roadmap” that outlines a whole-of-society approach to leverage existing national development plans, policies, programmes, and strategic investments. |