Unequal access to productive resources, harmful socio-cultural practices, gender-based violence, and low participation of women in decision-making, especially on the economic front, are some of the challenging factors contributing to gender inequality.

These were identified in the country review report by the African Peer Review Mechanism, released on Thursday.

The report acknowledges Namibia's efforts to strengthen its focus on generating sex-disaggregated statistics.

This is to address the existing lack of data on gender equality and rights. 

These efforts are to be complemented by the communication strategy for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development that is currently under development.

The communication strategy would further create awareness and mobilise society's participation in the implementation of Agenda 2030.

The APRM Country Review report also lauded Namibia's progress, as to date, 43% of parliamentarians are women.

This is a significant increase from just 25% in 2010. 

Furthermore, 43% of managerial positions in public service are held by women, and in terms of governance, currently 40% of the national executive are women, translating to 22 Ministers.