Trophy Hunting in Namiba – By Catherine Birch

Trophy hunting is always a polarising topic but opposition has been mounting over recent years. Cecil the Lion, the media (in particular the use of social media by animal rights activists), and celebrities have stirred public opinion, much of it negative. This has arguably contributed to the introduction of airline bans on transporting trophies, the […]

Pubic debt and Public Investment – By Emmet Kiberd

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a comprehensive and ambitious set of targets designed to support sustainable economic and social transformation between now and 2030. In Namibia, there have been, over the years, many ambitious sets of development targets, including the recent Harambee Prosperity Plan. In such situations, one of the most important roles for […]

Housing and sustainable urban development in Namibia – By Dylan van Wyk

It is estimated that by 2030 about 60% of the world’s population will live in urban areas. The developing world in particular, has seen a huge increase in rural to urban migration. This is especially evident in many African countries, Namibia being no exception. Based on data from the 2011 Namibia Population and Housing census […]

How can Namibia’s Mining Sector Contribute To Sustainable Development?

When the terms ‘mining’ and ‘sustainable development’ are used in conjunction, it raises some rather perplexing questions and issues given the strong juxtaposition in their meanings. Mining in its absolute nature is a finite activity with an expected time frame of operation, whereas sustainable development refers to a process which ensures that economic activity focuses […]

SASSCAL – promoting knowledge-based policy- and decision-making in support of attaining the SDGs – Br Dr Peter Erb

Weather and the atmosphere ignore national boundaries, as do fluxes of water, food and migrating people. Many ecological processes and mechanisms link neighbouring countries functionally. The fate of downstream riparian communities may depend on decisions taken by upstream communities in a different country; similarly, fire, drought and epidemics are accompanied and partly controlled by trigger […]

Leveraging schools for health – by Eloise du Plessis

In Namibia there are 1,779 government and government-aided schools which provide education to more than 700,000 learners. These schools have teachers, headmasters and premises – some better than others – but they share the characteristic that all the children of Namibia are there for 195 days of the year. These schools provide the infrastructure to […]