KHOMAS regional governor Laura McLeod-Katjirua has revealed that an estimated one-third of children in Namibia are subjected to violence each year.
She was speaking on Saturday at the commemoration of International Human Rights Day/Namibia Women's Day in Windhoek.
"As a country, we are still faced with a high level of gender-based violence, low participation of women in formal economic activities, rising unemployment and poverty among women and the youth," McLeod-Katjirua said.
Although much has been achieved in terms of the implementation of policies and laws towards the attainment of gender equality and women's empowerment, the government still needs to strengthen its collective efforts, especially in the area of legal literacy, she said.
"Improved access to justice, particularly for rural women which continues to limit the effective realisation of the human rights of women in Namibia," she said.
Human rights are inalienable rights that everyone is entitled to as a human beings, regardless of sex, race, ethnic origin, religion, creed, and social or economic status. As such, they need to be respected and protected by everyone, she said.
Namibian media ombudsman and human rights lawyer John Nakuta told Desert Radio last week that Namibia is doing pretty well in upholding the rights of the media and other civil liberties by decrying the way the country treats some of its immigrants.
He said there is a need for the country's immigration officials to be better nurtured on how to treat immigrants, and a need for the government to make a paradigm shift towards improving the rights of minority groups, including the LGBTQI+ community.
Meanwhile, Office of the Ombudsman spokesperson Aurelia David underscored the importance of upholding minority rights and children's rights, and called for continued improvement towards the securing of universal rights for everyone.
"The fact that rights such as children's rights are mentioned separately at this time of the commemoration of Human Rights Day places them at the centre of these issues and shows how important they are," David said.
Human Rights Day is commemorated every year on 10 December and is recognised by the United Nations for all its members states.
