Mental health experts have raised an alarm over the growing number of professionals taking their own lives, saying decent and meaningful employment remains crucial to individual well-being and national productivity.
Speaking at the International Conference on Emerging Trends in Psychosocial Wellbeing, industrial psychologist and keynote speaker Dr. Sebastian Rothmann, director of the Optentia Research Unit at North-West University in South Africa, said the link between decent work and personal wellbeing cannot be overstated.
"In South Africa and Namibia, estimates show that 25% and 32% of all employed people are in vulnerable kinds of employment. They are not doing decent jobs. And many of them are in informal employment, which creates more problems because if you are in informal employment, how do you ensure a proper pension for yourself for one day? How do you make sure that there is medical coverage that is of high quality and so on?"
The three-day conference, attended by researchers, academics, and policymakers, provided a platform to share insights on mental health challenges in the workplace and society.
The National Commission for Research, Science and Technology (NCRST)'s CEO, Anicia Peters, who was represented, expressed concern over rising suicide cases among professionals.
"And when you look at the stats, it literally shows that a lot of people who are committing suicide in Namibia are mainly professionals, people who are in the economic sector, people who are supposed to provide for their families and also contribute to the national agenda or the national economic development. Now, this month, being that the question is, what is it that we are doing as a country at this juncture where we are, the department that is responsible for our mental well-being?"
Adding to the discussion was Judith Hall, the Executive Dean of the Faculty of Health and Veterinary Medicine, who highlighted inequality as one of Namibia's greatest obstacles to wellbeing.
"This is not paternalistic; it's not even maternalistic; it's about their perception. We need this conference because we need well-being to come home to our nation and to our continent. This is a wonderful country, and dare I say, I don't know where you're all from, but I think it's the best country in Africa."