Namibia: Job creation in the green economy

Namibia conducts a green jobs assessment to inform and prioritize development plans and policy interventions.

Green jobs as a means to create more and decent employment began to receive increased attention from the social partners in Namibia in 2012. In a first attempt to respond to this development, the ILO provided technical assistance in the form of a pilot project to boost SME productivity and improve the quality of workplaces in waste management SMEs in the City of Windhoek and three other major cities. In parallel, an awareness raising campaign on green jobs and a national green jobs workshop entitled “Unlocking the employment creation potential of the emerging green economy in Namibia” gave additional momentum to the discussion among key stakeholders and the public about the opportunities related to the promotion of green jobs. of green jobs.

At the policy level the topic has been seized and green jobs are explicitly identified as a strategic pillar for job creation in the revised Namibian Employment Policy, which was launched by the President of the Republic of Namibia, H.E. Hifikepunye Pohamba, in October 2013.

Empirical evidence on the green jobs potential in the country will be provided through a green jobs assessment, which will be conducted in 2014. This will serve as a means to inform and prioritize Namibia’s development plans and policy interventions towards stronger job creation in the transition to a green economy.