Urban and Rural Development Minister Erastus Uutoni on Monday commended all 14 regional councils and their leadership for striving to improve employees’ wellness through recreational interventions, such as sports, to achieve a healthy work-life balance.

Uutoni made the remarks at the fifth regional annual wellness sports week, which is being held under the theme, ‘Our wellness, the road towards productivity’, at the Olufuko Festival Centre in Outapi.

In a speech given to Nampa, the minister said the theme was a good choice because wellness programmes are primarily created to help workers improve and maintain their health, which has a direct impact on increasing productivity within the workplace.

“It is a known fact that excessive workload increases mental and physical distress and could lead to low productivity, given the constant pressure and overwhelming demands within our workplaces. Not everyone knows how to manage stress and cultivate a work-life balance – and when employees constantly feel exhausted, their physical and mental abilities suffer, and their performance could take a fall,” Uutoni stressed.

He said sports can be a powerful tool to help the current situation of high youth unemployment in Namibia, as investing in sporting and recreational facilities could create an avenue for sports champions to emerge.

- Nampa