State of the World's Minorities and Indigenous Peoples 2015 - Namibia

The year 2014 was an election year in Namibia, with the South West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO) Prime Minister Hage Geingob taking 86.7 per cent of all declared votes and SWAPO maintaining its two-thirds majority. Urbanization was a key topic in the election campaign, as the government plans to spend US$4.1 billion on urban housing. Though about a quarter of Namibians live in informal urban settlements, Namibia has been praised for its progressive approach to combatting its housing crisis and its pro-poor urban strategies, including significant financial support for self-help grassroots movements and saving groups.

However, the specific needs of minority groups are not always catered for in Namibia, despite a number of government initiatives. According to Namibia's Fourth National Development Plan 2012/20 to 2016/17, the government aims to eradicate extreme poverty, especially in households of 'certain language groups' previously excluded from the Namibian social protection system despite experiencing extreme deprivation. Nonetheless, San remain Namibia's most disadvantaged group, ranking far lower than the rest of the population with regard to almost all development indicators due to decades of discrimination.

Since 2005, a dedicated government programme, the San Development Programme, exists in the Office of the Prime Minister. However, government officials often demonstrate prejudice and lack of understanding for the San. Despite the concerns raised by the UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples, James Anaya, in 2013, there has been no improvement in the political representation of Himba and San, as a third of their leaders have still not been recognized as official traditional leaders and remain excluded from decision making processes at local and national level. In 2014, there was not a single San member of parliament and just one San regional council member.

Though the only San regional councillor is a woman, in general gender inequality is a growing problem among the San community. One reason for this is that the community has been increasingly influenced by the hierarchical structures within wider Namibian society, where men are typically placed above women. Feminist organizations such as the Women's Leadership Centre, founded by Elizabeth Khaxas, aim to build feminist politics based on indigenous cultures in Namibia. The group works with women from the Khwe community in north-eastern Namibia to build their leadership and to educate them on their rights as both women and indigenous people.

Namibian women achieved a victory in 2014 with the Namibian Supreme Court condemning the forced sterilization of three HIV-positive women and acknowledging their lack of consent. Their case is considered a precedent for many more HIV-positive women who have been forcibly sterilized. The ruling could have particular relevance for minority women, as the HIV-infection risk is higher among minority communities due to a lack of public health campaigns in minority languages and insufficient outreach to minority communities living in remote areas.

Physical, social and legal constraints mean state development programmes do not benefit all Namibians to the same degree, and rural-urban inequalities could further exacerbate these disparities. As many minority and indigenous communities still live in conservation areas, forests and national parks, they typically gain less from government initiatives to combat poverty and improve access to health care, as these tend to be focused on the urban poor. Consequently, though the government's plan to invest in urban housing is welcome, it is important that it is balanced with targeted rural development to ensure that the situation of San and other marginalized groups in these areas also improves.

In recent decades, having previously lived almost exclusively in rural areas, a significant proportion of San have resettled in camps or on the edge of townships due to their lack of access to land and the decline in available employment on commercial farms. With few resources or skills applicable to the urban labour market, their situation is especially vulnerable. Many urban San face serious food insecurity and limited prospects of formal employment, with most engaging in odd jobs to survive. Even among other low-income residents, previous research has suggested that San are still far poorer than other squatters.

But while these issues must be addressed with inclusive urban poverty reduction measures, efforts should also focus on rural issues such as agriculture to reduce unemployment – a major driver of migration to urban areas. Other strategies, such as livelihood diversification and training opportunities for San agricultural workers on commercial farms, will also help provide them with a broader set of skills that allow them either to remain in their community or integrate with greater ease into urban labour markets.