Windhoek
The National Disability Council of Namibia (NDCN) has established a national database system for people living with disabilities, Head of Research and Development at NDCN, Tjiueza Tjombumbi, revealed last week.
Speaking at the launch of the Namibia Statistic Agency (NSA) Disability Report a week ago, Tjombumbi said through the database system the council has collected data from the Omaheke Region and it wishes to do the same throughout the entire country.
He said in this regard the council hopes the NSA and the NDCN would work closely with one another and support each other in projects such as the one mentioned.
Tjombumbi commended the NSA and others for their involvement during the drafting of the disability report from the 2011 Namibian census.
“The United Nations convention on the right of persons with disabilities requires that countries collect appropriate information, including statistical research data to enable them to formulate and implement policies,” he said.
He said the council is very grateful to the NSA for the work well done, as without concrete statistical information it was very difficult to represent others and advocate for their rights, as one lacked vital information needed to convince decision-makers.
Tjombumbi added that the report came at an opportune time just after the unveiling of the Harambee Prosperity Plan (HPP).
“It is now our duty to use the report when we are advocating for the inclusion of people with disabilities in the five pillars of the Harambee plan,” he concluded.
Explaining why the report was based on the 2011 census, Statistician General Alex Shimuafeni said the 2011 census questionnaire had over 40 questions that needed to be posed to 2 million individuals which meant some 80 million data sets.
“Statistical dictionaries had to be developed to define these variables as part of data analysis and the fact that the census was based on a paper questionnaire is also a contributing factor for the elongated time it took to produce the census reports,” he said.