Directorate of Policy, Planning and Research - MGEPESW

DIRECTORATE OF POLICY, PLANNING AND RESEARCH

The Directorate of Policy, Planning and Research main objectives are to coordinate the development of policies, strategies and plan the implementation of gender, poverty eradication and related programmes.

Core Functions:

 

The Directorate provides the following services 

Blueprint and Zero Hunger

The Directorate facilitates the development and effective implementation of the Blueprint on Wealth Redistribution and Poverty Eradication and the Zero Hunger Road Map. The policy framework is aimed at advancing strategies for eradicating poverty and reducing income inequality in Namibia.

Basic Income Grant

The Basic Income Grant (BIG) is designed as part of the new suite of Namibia's social assistance programmes which will be employed to build resilience of vulnerable Namibians to achieve equity by enabling them to cope with vulnerabilities they face in life. The BIG has been conceptualised as a two pronged, stepwise process. In the short term, it seeks to achieve reduced poverty, lessened income inequality and decrease unemployment through cash transfers to vulnerable and the unemployed. While the longer-term goal is to address structural poverty by raising human capital through increased educational outcomes, and promotion of healthy populations, whilst growing the economy and creating employment opportunities.

Food Bank Programme

The Ministry successfully developed the Food Bank manual that provides instructions and guidelines on the execution of the Food Bank activities, which also serves as an operational reference book. Furthermore, in partnership with the development partners, the Directorate developed the Food Bank Monitoring and evaluation framework.

Social Protection Policy

The Social Protection Policy was developed in 2019, and seeks to resolve the existing problems in the provision of social protection, including fragmentation, weak coordination, weak coverage, and inadequacy of benefits and the absence of integrated management information systems for social protection. The policy puts emphasis on the life cycle approach, thereby ensuring that the different vulnerabilities faced by people from young age, through to old age are addressed.