▪ A study published by the World Bank in 2022 showed that 1.6 million Namibians (64% of the population) live in poverty
▪ 800,000 Namibians are starving and need humanitarian aid
▪ Namibia has amongst the highest levels of inequalities & unemployment rates in the world with youth unemployment of over 50%.
▪ Poverty leads to crime, gender-based violence and suicide
A BIG is a grant which every Namibian should get from birth until s/he reaches the age of 60. It is an economic right for
everybody which means:
1. A monthly cash payment for all, not a once-off grant
2. Payment for each person - not per household
3. Payments for children will go to the person who takes care of them
Resistance to marine phosphate mining in Namibia
Michael Gaweseb and Herbert Jauch, Economic and Social Justice Trust
Namibia is facing the prospects of becoming the first country to allow marine
phosphate mining. There is currently a request from Namibian Marine Phosphates
(NMP), an 85-percent foreign-owned company (Omani investor) intent on mining for
phosphates on the seabed, close to the major coastal fishing town of Walvis Bay,
where it proposes to dump tonnes of waste on-land. Another applicant, Lev Leviev
Namibia Phosphates, are hoping to also apply to set up a marine phosphate mining
operation and a phosphoric acid plant at Luderitz.
The Activist School
At a time when Namibia is still rated as a highly unequal country with the third highest income
inequality in the world, there has been a declining interest in activism. Without people willing
to become agents of change, we cannot achieve the fundamental changes needed to build a
better and more equal society. The Economic and Social Justice (ESJT) therefore identified the
urgent need to build a new layer of younger activists to find solutions to inequality and secure a
brighter future for all Namibians.
No to oil and gas drilling in the Kavango regions
We, Civil Society Organisations in Namibia, together with regional and international organisations, coalitions and technical experts, are deeply concerned about oil and gas exploratory drilling activities in the Kavango Basin. Most of us have not been consulted or given any evidence about how the exploration activities and possible production of oil and gas will a ect the lives, livelihoods and human rights of people in Kavango East and West regions, as well as our precious environment and overall water and food security in Namibia.
The Namibian Journal of Social Justice
One of our key projects is to the annual publication of the Namibian Journal of Social Justice
(NJSJ). This journal was formed by a group of academics and activists in 2020 with the aim of
providing a space to critically engage with and contest the mainstream ideas that underpin the
neoliberal global order. It is published by the Economic and Social Justice Trust and serves as an
intellectual platform for social justice academics and activists in Namibia who want to critically
question the neoliberal global order and search for alternatives. The journal aims to be a teaching
and learning instrument for academics, teachers, students, workers, youth activists, policy makers
and others who are willing to wage the struggle for social justice in Namibia.
