By: Uakutura Kambaekua
Child marriage, livestock herding, sodomy, child pregnancies and gender discrimination are still an issue that is pervasive across the Kunene region due to economic, social and cultural norms.
Namibia yesterday marked its 22nd celebration of Namibian Child Day. However, children continue to endure harmful traditional practices that retards their development and deny them access to their fundamental rights.
During the Namibian Child Day celebration at Opuwo, Kunene education director Angelina Jantze mentioned that the Kunene region dominates the charts regarding harmful cultural practices amongst children, noting that decisions taken by parents on behalf of children become problematic.
“Kunene region is marked as a region with a high rate of harmful cultural practices towards children. As we are celebrating the the “Day of the Namibian Child”, my focus will be on the school environment and outline harmful practices amongst children at school. Anyone under the age of 18 is regarded as a child. This means that a child does not have any legal decision-making power. Parents and guardians thus take decisions on behalf of children until they come of age. This is where some decisions taken by parents become problematic,” she said.
In 2020 the gender ministry launched the child report, which stated that the prevalence of child marriage among girls in Namibia is 18.4 per cent, while that for boys is considerably lower, at 4.1 per cent.
Kunene reported 24 per cent, behind only the two Kavango regions, which reported 39.7 per cent collectively, followed by Zambezi at 23.8 per cent, Omaheke at 23 per cent and Otjozondjupa at 22.6 per cent.
Jantze said some of these decisions infringe on human rights and dignity while also keeping children out of school and are especially geared against the girl child.
“We can name a few harmful practices, for example, practices that keep children out of school, such as being a herder of family livestock or marrying girls at a tender age before they can reach puberty, or denied attending school on the basis of their gender, most harmful cultural practices are geared against girls and affect them negatively,” narrated Jantze.
Furthermore, the education director stated that ineffective punitive discipline practices such as corporal punishment deter children from going to school, adding that depriving a child of her rights to the basic conditions of living, e.g. punishing children in hostels with meals, is prohibited.
She further stated that learners who are harmed at school refuse to attend school for fear of being oppressed, forcing them to drop out and contributing to the high crime rate.
“This is a vicious chain reaction. Harmful practices may destroy the self-esteem and inferiority complex of the victim, which in turn is the cause of so many social problems. That’s why we have a high crime rate,” she said.
Additionally, Jantze called on all stakeholders to fulfil their roles in the education sector to curb these harmful practices while focusing on promoting the health, safety and wellbeing of learners and other stakeholders in providing practical guidance to the schools on how to improve the standards of school safety, and how to develop a culture of care in any school.
