Editorial: Namibia Slips Down A Few Notches
IT is a gradual descent, but a descent nonetheless, when one looks at Namibia's place on the Human Development Index (HDI) of the UN Development Programme.
The Index, launched last week, is a widely accepted measure of
comparison of the living standards of people, which ranks countries
according to a set of criteria which includes lifespan, education
and buying power.
Namibia has fallen steadily down the Index since 1999, when it
occupied 115th position, to rank 126 in the latest publication.
The Report pointed out that the only positive development was in
the area of adult literacy where Namibia had made strides; but in
other areas, such as life expectancy - down from 52,4 to 45,3 years
- and of course the majority of our population is getting
poorer.
The gap between rich and poor in Namibia is one of the biggest
in the world, and the Report points out that while a small
percentage of the population still continued to generate a huge
income, the majority of our country's people have become
poorer.
The Report took the issue further, breaking down the income per
ethnic group, and not surprisingly German-speakers topped the list,
followed by English-speakers, Afrikaners and then
Oshiwambo-speaking Namibians.
Groups very low on the income scale include Rukavango speakers
and, of course, the San community.
Justifying this breakdown, the Report said that the Government
should consider this data as an important first step in solving
these problems, and not to see this as a 'damning revelation'.
As a result of the high-earning richer classes in Namibia, and
despite a majority of poor people, the country still retained its
middle income, rather than least developed status.
In a separate study that is worth noting while on this topic,
the number of youth in Namibia living below the poverty line is
estimated to be considerably higher than the general unemployment
rate.
According to the African Forum and Network for Debt and
Development, unemployment tended to be higher among youth than in
the adult population.
The abovementioned statistics are food for thought, and it is
becoming more and more evident that Namibia has to try to narrow
the gap between rich and poor, and has to be seen to be making
progress if it hopes to improve its position on the HDI rankings
next year.
More importantly, and we did not need this Report to tell us
this, unemployment and the increase of the poorer classes bears out
the 'rich get richer, while the poor get poorer' accusation that is
often levelled against our Government, which has not managed to
achieve a levelling of the differences, at least not to any
successful extent.
It will take more than Government to achieve more equality than
is currently the case, and it will call for consultations across
the spectrum of society and creative thinking and action to make a
difference to this rather depressing trend.
Namibia has one strong asset - its relatively small population
compared with other poverty-stricken nations the world over.
It should be possible to achieve a better balance between rich
and poor, although a gap will always remain..
Focussing on a solution to rising unemployment is most certainly
one of the country's priorities.
There are no easy answers, but there must certainly be measures
that can be taken timeously in order to eventually achieve more
parity .
We the hope that by the time the 2005 HDI report is released,
that there will at least be some improvement, however small, in
this regard, for we owe it to those who have so little.
Namibia has fallen steadily down the Index since 1999, when it
occupied 115th position, to rank 126 in the latest publication.The
Report pointed out that the only positive development was in the
area of adult literacy where Namibia had made strides; but in other
areas, such as life expectancy - down from 52,4 to 45,3 years - and
of course the majority of our population is getting poorer.The gap
between rich and poor in Namibia is one of the biggest in the
world, and the Report points out that while a small percentage of
the population still continued to generate a huge income, the
majority of our country's people have become poorer.The Report took
the issue further, breaking down the income per ethnic group, and
not surprisingly German-speakers topped the list, followed by
English-speakers, Afrikaners and then Oshiwambo-speaking
Namibians.Groups very low on the income scale include Rukavango
speakers and, of course, the San community.Justifying this
breakdown, the Report said that the Government should consider this
data as an important first step in solving these problems, and not
to see this as a 'damning revelation'.As a result of the
high-earning richer classes in Namibia, and despite a majority of
poor people, the country still retained its middle income, rather
than least developed status.In a separate study that is worth
noting while on this topic, the number of youth in Namibia living
below the poverty line is estimated to be considerably higher than
the general unemployment rate.According to the African Forum and
Network for Debt and Development, unemployment tended to be higher
among youth than in the adult population.The abovementioned
statistics are food for thought, and it is becoming more and more
evident that Namibia has to try to narrow the gap between rich and
poor, and has to be seen to be making progress if it hopes to
improve its position on the HDI rankings next year.More
importantly, and we did not need this Report to tell us this,
unemployment and the increase of the poorer classes bears out the
'rich get richer, while the poor get poorer' accusation that is
often levelled against our Government, which has not managed to
achieve a levelling of the differences, at least not to any
successful extent.It will take more than Government to achieve more
equality than is currently the case, and it will call for
consultations across the spectrum of society and creative thinking
and action to make a difference to this rather depressing
trend.Namibia has one strong asset - its relatively small
population compared with other poverty-stricken nations the world
over.It should be possible to achieve a better balance between rich
and poor, although a gap will always remain..Focussing on a
solution to rising unemployment is most certainly one of the
country's priorities.There are no easy answers, but there must
certainly be measures that can be taken timeously in order to
eventually achieve more parity .We the hope that by the time the
2005 HDI report is released, that there will at least be some
improvement, however small, in this regard, for we owe it to those
who have so little.