As Namibia celebrates Human Rights Day, the executive director of Women Action for Development, Salatiel Shinedima, has urged Namibians to educate themselves about various social protection means and understand their rights.

This comes in commemoration of Human Rights Day tomorrow.

In Namibia, the day is dedicated to promoting awareness of human rights, fostering equality, and addressing ongoing challenges related to social justice.

Shinedima emphasised that Namibia marks this day to ensure that citizens' rights are fully exercised.

He also highlighted the importance of fostering awareness among citizens about their rights.

"We have done a lot of research, and we have introduced our new policies on gender-based violence and equality and equity, which are going to address a lot of issues in gender-based violence. We also know that gender-based violence and human rights issues are in the hands of a number of challenges that the country faces, and they include responses to shocks, which is currently a challenge. As you know, women are the most affected in terms of poverty statistics, with women making up about 48 percent of those living in poverty as opposed to their male counterparts. We then came up with the Gender Equality and Equity Act, which is going to coordinate the implementation of gender equality challenges. Part of that policy is also the implementation, as well as the evaluation and monitoring aspect of that very policy. It strengthens the programs in terms of responding to challenges. As you know, we have responsive planning and budgeting, and the target is specifically on marginalized communities and persons with disabilities."