President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah says Namibia has closed more than 80% of its gender gap, reaffirming the country's commitment to advancing women's empowerment.

According to the latest World Economic Forum Global Gender Gap Report, Namibia ranks first in Africa and eighth worldwide.

President Nandi-Ndaitwah made the remarks at the High-Level Meeting on the 30th anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women, held at the UN Headquarters.

The Fourth World Conference on Women, which took place in Beijing in 1995, led to the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, which is now considered the key global policy framework for gender equality across all sectors.

At that conference, President Nandi-Ndaitwah served as Chief Negotiator for the African Group.

She told the Assembly that Namibia has since incorporated the declaration into national gender policy, affirming that women's rights are human rights.

"Namibia has always built on the strong foundation of this Declaration to draw a strong link on issues related to the women and development nexus. Our progress in the areas of political inclusion and legal reforms is grounded in this and underpins our deep commitment to achieve progress for the empowerment of women," said Nandi-Ndaitwah.

To illustrate her point, President Nandi-Ndaitwah highlighted progress made in appointing women to senior decision-making roles.

"Namibia now has a female President, Vice President, Speaker of the National Assembly, and Secretary General of the Swapo Party, the ruling party in Namibia. It is encouraging to share that women hold 57% of cabinet positions and 38.5% of seats in the National Assembly."

However, the President cautioned that despite progress, challenges remain, particularly in economic inclusion, where women, especially in rural areas, still face limited access to credit, land, and markets.

"To address this, Namibia's National Gender Equality and Equity Policy 2025-2035 promotes equal access to resources, capacity building, and programmes such as women-owned micro-enterprises to support women through income generation. Agriculture, being a major informal economic activity, is supported through the Agribank of Namibia, which assists young people and women who want to venture into farming."

Other leaders at the meeting also cautioned against reversing the gains made in achieving gender parity.

The 30th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration is among the key events leading up to the General Debate of the UN General Assembly.