The Namibian leader outlined emerging and existing challenges that continue to hinder efforts towards socio-economic progress and underlined his country’s full commitment to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the global development framework, adopted by UN Member States in 2015.
“In fact, Namibia has integrated the 17 (Sustainable Development) Goals and their targets into our National Development Plans,” he announced, also pointing out the parallels between Agenda 2030 and Agenda 2063 of the African Union ‘The Africa we want’.
The President also highlighted the importance of the UN Technology Bank, established last June, for its support to countries like Namibia that are at the forefront of seasonal natural disasters such as droughts and floods.
President Geingob also highlighted the importance of empowering youth and utilizing their potential for the good of the global community. In that context, he also said that technological advances present humanity with many opportunities and young people are in the best position to make them come true.
“It is up to us to understand how these technologies can create opportunities for our youth to become drivers of economic growth and industrial development,” he said, also highlighting the importance of gender equality and women’s empowerment.
“The late Secretary-General Kofi Annan was right when he said: ‘Gender equality is more than a goal in itself. It is a precondition for meeting the challenge of reducing poverty, promoting sustainable development and building good governance,'” the Namibian leader said.
“The world should do more to make gender equality a reality.”