Namibia Child Activities Survey 1999

Summary

This report is the first of its kind on child activities in Namibia. The indicators derived show the extent to which the Namibian society has compromised the rights of some children, contrary to the constitutional provisions, the Labour Act and the International Convention on the Rights of the Child. The results of future studies of this kind would show the progress being made in safeguarding the interests of children in the country. It is hoped that all the concerned agencies, in the government and the private sector, would find the information useful in ensuring Namibia’s compliance with national and international standards for the employment of children and for safeguarding their welfare.

The over all objective of 1999 NCAS was to provide baseline data on the activities of the child population in Namibia for planning, policy formulation and the implementation of government development programmes aimed at improving the status of the vulnerable socio-economic groups in the Namibian population, such as children. The 1999 NCAS was conducted on a sample basis covering the whole country in February/March 1999. The data collected are presented in the report at national, regional as well as rural and urban levels. The target group for this survey was the population of children aged 6 to 18 years, in accordance with the United Nations definition of a child and the official definition of the schooling age in Namibia.