The Right Start Programme aims to strengthen support for young children by engaging and reaching out to caregivers, educators, policymakers, and decision-makers.

It is for this reason that stakeholders at the launch of the programme reaffirmed their commitment to ensuring that every Namibian child receives the right foundation for growth and development at an early age.

"The ministry responsible for child welfare emphasises that the focus will be placed on ensuring that children thrive, especially in their first 1,000 days, through the implementation of the family-based early childhood development intervention," said Child Welfare Minister Dr. Emma Kantema. She added that this is "one of our interventions in NDP6, knowing that we will be integrating early childhood in education, but the ministry will remain with that mandate from zero to 2."

Education Minister Sanet Steenkamp expressed her commitment to collaborating closely with the Child Welfare Ministry to create a seamless transition for children entering the education system. "I am pleased to announce that our ministry and the Ministry of Child Welfare, together with the EU, are rolling out a pilot-phase school feeding programme at ECD centres targeting 39,000 children. Let them eat, let the children play, and let them learn."

Also speaking at the event was Safety and Security Minister Lucia Ipumbu, who said, "We have noted that another arm of our responsibility is making sure that our children are safe both at home in the community and at schools. So, together with our stakeholders who are part of this gathering, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Child Welfare and Nampol, we are working together to tackle incidents such as those that took place in Okahandja a few months ago."

Richard Cook is the coordinator for the Anglo America Namibia Foundation, one of the main supporters of the Right Start programme. "Today I am standing in front of you to call on corporate Namibia to come and support, especially when we start the programme of Right Start. I am saying that this is the programme that we need to support, so please let's collaborate and get together and start and assist the programme." 

UNICEF Country Representative Samuel Ocarn pledged the UN organisation's continued support for early childhood development in Namibia. "UNICEF remains steadfast in our commitment to support ECD in Namibia through our new country programme, which runs from this year to 2029. We will continue to place the child at the heart of our developmental efforts with integrated support to ensure that every child in Namibia not only receives services but also thrives and survives." 

Ana Martins, the European Union's Ambassador to Namibia, encouraged the use of the latest technologies to ensure the successful implementation of the programme.

"We must hold ourselves accountable; monitoring, evaluating, and keeping ourselves up-to-date with the latest scientific and technological evidence is not optional; it is the backbone of a serious national programme. We must track progress and learn from experience, and adapt our approaches."