The Oshana Region marked International Women's Day with reaffirmation of its collective commitment to advancing equality, justice and opportunities for all women and girls.

The day was marked at Oluno in the Ondangwa Urban Constituency.

Oshana Governor Hofni Iipinge, in a speech read on his behalf, says the day celebrates strides that Namibia has achieved towards gender equality and women's empowerment.

"According to the Global Gender Gap Index, Namibia has closed 81.1% of its gender gap, resulting in the country being ranked number 8 globally and number 1 in Sub-Saharan Africa. These improvements are in the areas of education, economic participation and opportunity, political empowerment and health. Namibia has achieved full parity on both the health and survival and educational attainment sub-indexes."

The head of Gender-Based Violence Victim Protection for Police in Oshana, Senior Inspector Cecilia Mboye, also spoke at the event. 

"We have a lot of women experiencing abuse but do not seek assistance. We are not saying to have men arrested, but the abuse we are referring to is not just domestic abuse by men, but we equally have our children abusing us, our relatives and depression. Let us please look for assistance whenever we encounter difficulties."