One in three women around the world experiences physical or sexual violence, and the majority of the perpetrators in these cases are intimate partners.

This is contained in the 2022 report of the World Health Organization.

UNAM's Multi-Research Services and Action Research Team joined the call for action to accelerate gender parity by celebrating women's achievements.

Giving his welcoming remarks, the councilor for Samora Machel, Nestor Kalola, noted that gender-based violence in Namibia is common and some still believe men are justified in physically disciplining their wives.

"Few still believe that GBV is a private matter that needs to be handled within the family. GBV is a serious social problem that leaves women and girls behind regarding their rights and civic engagement. Sexual and gender-based violence against women and girls is a human rights violation, and the immediate and long-term physical, sexual, and mental consequences for women and girls can be devastating, including death."

Dr. Immaculate Mogotsi noted that it would be senseless for Namibia to celebrate gender parity and the achievements of women in society if it could not root out gender-based violence.

"On your perception as young people about how to improve the current service provision, how do we improve it? What do you do if you're in a house and your parents beat each other up? I really hope you can think of it."

Deputy Minister of Information, Communication, and Technology, Emma Theofelus, urged the youth to use social media platforms to devise innovative solutions to deal with gender-based violence.

"It is also my hope that the various social media platforms can be harnessed as mediums of constructive communication and education; for example,  social media can be used to distribute GBV prevention messages in all our local languages. We can design short video reels and TikTok videos that are easily understandable and appeal to young people's interests."