00:00We can do it. And yes, Namibia did.
00:02From electing its first woman president to woman holding nearly half the seats in the National Assembly in Namibia,
00:08woman literally ruled.
00:09Who runs the world, girl?
00:11In fact, it's the only African country to rank in the top 10 of the World Economic Forum Global Gender
00:16Gap Report,
00:17thanks largely to its deliberate inclusive leadership strategy.
00:20But how did Namibia get here?
00:22On March 21st, 2025, Namibia made history by inaugurating all women in its top leadership positions.
00:29Netumbo Nanindaitwa as its first woman president.
00:32Lucia Vitboy was appointed vice president.
00:34And Sarah Kongonguela Amadila became the first woman to lead parliament.
00:38According to stats from UN Women, Namibia's National Assembly includes 44 women out of 104 members.
00:45That's 42.3% representation.
00:47And young women are also represented.
00:49Information Minister Emma Teofilos was first appointed at age 23 as deputy minister,
00:54while 32-year-old Esperanz Laviando now serves as health minister.
00:59But these wins didn't happen overnight.
01:02In 2014, Namibia introduced the Zybra System,
01:06a bold 50-50 gender policy adopted by the ruling party SWAPO.
01:09It requires alternating male and female candidates on party lists and leadership structures.
01:14In simple terms, it means if the woman is a minister, the man is the deputy,
01:18and vice versa, a built-in balance.
01:21At the time, analysts noted that as women gain power,
01:24they're better placed to compete for positions that are traditionally dominated by men.
01:27Because political and economic incentives shifts when representation shifts.
01:32Funny how that works.
01:33But despite this progress, challenges still remain.
01:36Out of 42 newly sworn-in National Council members, only 7 are women.
01:41It's a slight improvement of only 14% in the previous House.
01:44Representation at regional and constituency levels still lags behind.
01:48But beyond politics, there are still gaps in unpaid care and domestic work,
01:52as well as key labour market indicators such as gender pay gap and ICT skills, among others.
01:57Laws like the Married Persons Equality Act or the Communal Land Reform Act
02:01are helping dismantle long-standing inequalities.
02:05But legislation is just one step.
02:09Namibia's progress is real, but lasting equality requires not just representation,
02:14but deeper transformation in social norms and economic opportunities.
02:18And power at the local level, not just at the top.
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