Namibia and its parliament are repositioning their society to ensure it manages, adapts to and emerges stronger and resilient to pandemics and other shocks within the environment, speaker of the National Assembly Peter Katjavivi has said.

Katjavivi said this last week during a virtual 142nd Inter Parliamentary Union (IPU) Assembly, held under the theme: ‘Overcoming the Pandemic
Today and Building a Better Tomorrow: The Role of Parliaments’, a theme the Speaker said sums up the state of affairs, confirming our common humanity with respect to the current pandemic.

IPU, the only global forum of members of parliament (MPs), brings together parliamentarians to address and drive change
on issues on the international agenda.

Katjavivi said, indeed, Namibia is addressing the accessibility of Covid-19 vaccines as a public good. “This subject goes to the root of resolving inequality during times when the global village is faced with a deadly virus. This virus does not discriminate between the rich and poor, where there is a risk of reinfection across the board,” he said.

“It is particularly important that we address the pandemic collectively. Therefore, we call upon collective efforts to help address these endeavours aimed at accessibility to vaccines”.

Furthermore, Katjavivi also informed the union that in respect to the gender-responsive policy and women leadership, Namibia has made progress in this vital area. 

He said the country’s current seventh Parliament swore in five young female MPs, the youngest being 22 years old.