Annex 1: A selection of constitutional provisions affecting the status of women
Article 10 Equality and Freedom form Discrimination
(1) All persons shall be equal before the law.
(2) No persons may be discriminated against on the ground of sex, race, colour, ethnic origin, religion, creed or social or economic status.
Article 14 Family
(1) Men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race, colour, ethnic origin, nationality, religion, creed or social or economic status shall have the right to marry and to found a family. They shall be entitled to equal rights as to marriage, during marriage and its dissolution.
(2) Marriage shall be entered into only with the free and full consent of the intending spouses.
(3) The family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the State.
Article 16 Property
(1) All persons shall have the right in any part of Namibia to acquire, own and dispose of all forms of immovable and movable property individually or in association with others and to bequeath their property to their heirs or legatees: provided the
Parliament may by legislation prohibit or regulate as it deems expedient the right to acquire property by persons who are not Namibian citizens.
(2) The State or competent body or organ authorised by law may expropriate property in the public interest subject to the payment of just compensation, in accordance with requirements and procedures to be determined by an Act of Parliament.
Article 23 Apartheid and Affirmative Action
(1) The practice of racial discrimination and the practice and ideology of apartheid from which the majority of the people of Namibia have suffered for so long shall be prohibited and by Act of Parliament such practices, and the propagation of such practices, may be rendered criminally punishable by the ordinary Courts by means of such punishments as Parliament deems necessary for the purposes of expressing the revulsion of the Namibian people at such practices.
(2) Nothing contained in Article 10 hereof shall prevent Parliament from enacting legislation providing directly or indirectly for the advancement of persons within
Namibia who have been socially, economically or educationally disadvantaged by past discriminatory laws or practices, or for the implementation of policies and programmes aimed at redressing social, economic or educational imbalances in the
Namibian society arising out of past discriminatory laws or practices, or for achieving a balanced structuring of the public service, the police force, the defence force, and the prison service.
(3) In the enactment of legislation and the application of any policies and practices contemplated by Sub-Article (2) hereof, it shall be permissible to have regard to the fact that women in Namibia have traditionally suffered special discrimination and that they need to be encouraged and enabled to play a full, equal and effective role in the political, social economic and cultural life of the nation.
Article 66 Customary and Common Law
(1) Both the customary law and the common law of Namibia in force on the date of Independence shall remain valid to the extent to which such customary or common law does not conflict with this Constitution or any other statutory law.
(2) Subject to the terms of this Constitution, any part of such common law or customary law may be repealed or modified by Act of Parliament, and the application thereof may be confined to particular parts of Namibia or particular periods.
Article 89 Establishment and Independence
(1) There shall be an ombudsman, who shall have the powers and functions set out in this Constitution.
(2) The Ombudsman shall be independent and subject only to this Constitution and the law.
(3) No member of the Cabinet or the Legislature or any other person shall interfere with the Ombudsman in the exercise of his or her functions and all organs of the State shall accord such assistance as may be needed for the protection of the independence, dignity and effectiveness of the Ombudsman.
(4) The Ombudsman shall either be a Judge of Namibia, or a person possessing the legal qualifications which would entitle him or her to practice in all the Courts of Namibia.
Article 95 Promotion of the Welfare of the People
The State shall actively promote and maintain the welfare of the people by adopting, inter alia, policies aimed at the following:
(a) enactment of legislation to ensure equality of opportunity for women, to enable them to participate fully in all spheres of Namibian society; in particular, the Government shall ensure the implementation of the principle of non-discrimination in remuneration of men and women; further, the Government shall seek, through appropriate legislation, to provide maternity and related benefits for women;
(b) enactment of legislation to ensure that the health and strength of the workers, men and women, and the tender age of children are not abused and that citizens are not forced by economic necessity to enter vocations unsuited to their age and strength;
(c) active encouragement of the formation of independent trade unions to protect worker's rights and interests, and to promote sound labour relations and fair employment practices;
(d) member of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and, where possible, adherence to and action in accordance with the international Conventions and
Recommendations of the ILO;
(e) ensurance that every citizen has a right to fair and reasonable access to public facilities and services in accordance with the law;
(f) ensurance that senior citizens are entitled to and receive a regular pension adequate for the maintenance of a decent standard of living and the enjoyment of social and cultural opportunities;
(g) enactment of legislation to ensure that the unemployed, the incapacitated, the indigent and the disadvantaged are accorded such social benefits and amenities as are determined by Parliament to be just and affordable with due regard to the resources of the State;
(h) a legal system seeking to promote justice on the basis of equal opportunity by providing free legal aid in defined cases with due regard to resources of the State;
(i) ensurance that workers are paid a living wage adequate for the maintenance of a decent standard of living and the enjoyment of social and cultural opportunities;
(j) consistent planning to raise and maintain an acceptable level of nutrition and standard of living of the Namibian people and to improve public health;
(k) encouragement of the mass of the population through education and other activities and through their organisations to influence Government policy by debating its decisions;
(l) maintenance of ecosystems, essential ecological processes and biological diversity of Namibia and utilization of living natural resources on a sustainable basis for the benefit of all Namibians, both present and future; in particular, the Government shall provide measures against the dumping or recycling of foreign nuclear and toxic waste on Namibian territory.
Article 100 Sovereign Ownership of Natural Resources
Land, water and natural resources below and above the surface of the land and in the continental shelf and within the territorial waters and the exclusive economic zone of Namibia shall belong to the State if they are not otherwise lawfully owned.
Article 140 The Law in Force at the Date of Independence
(1) Subject to the provisions of this Constitution, all laws which were in force immediately before the date of Independence shall remain in force until repealed or amended by Act of Parliament or until they are declared unconstitutional by a competent Court.
(2) Any powers vested by such laws in the Government, or in a Minister or other official of the Republic of South Africa shall be deemed to vest in the Government of the Republic of Namibia or in a corresponding Minister or official of the Government of the Republic of Namibia, and all powers, duties and functions which so vested in the Government Service Commission, shall vest in the Public Service Commission referred to in Article 112 hereof.
(3) Anything done under such laws prior to the date of Independence by the Government, or by a Minister or other official of the Republic of South Africa shall be deemed to have been done by the Republic of Namibia or by a corresponding Minister or official of the Government of the Republic of Namibia, unless such action is subsequently repudiated by an Act of Parliament, and anything so done by the Government Service Commission shall be deemed to have been done by the Public Service Commission referred to in Article 112 hereof, unless it is determined otherwise by an Act of Parliament.
(4) Any reference in such laws to the President, the Government, a Minister or other official or institution in the Republic of South Africa shall be deemed to be a reference to the President of Namibia or to a corresponding Minister, official or institution in the Republic of Namibia and any reference to the Public Service Commission referred to in Article 112 hereof or the public service of Namibia.
(5) For the purposes of this Article the Government of the Republic of South Africa shall be deemed to include the Administration of the Administrator-General appointed by the Government of South Africa to administer Namibia, and any reference to the Administrator-General in legislation enacted by such administration shall be deemed to be a reference to the President of Namibia, and any reference to a Minister or official of such administration shall be deemed to be a reference to a corresponding Minister or official of the Government of the Republic of Namibia.
Other Selected Readings in the Series
National Sectoral Reports on Women, Agriculture and Rural Development for:
Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chile, Congo, Costa Rica, Cyprus, Egypt, E1 Salvador, Honduras, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Mauritania, Mexico, Morocco, Namibia, Oman, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tanzania, Tunisia, Turkey, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, Venezuela, Yemen and Zimbabwe.
Country "FACT SHEETS" on Women, Agriculture and Rural Development for:
Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon' Congo, Egypt, E1 Salvador, Honduras, Iran, Lebanon, Namibia, Mauritania, Morocco, Peru, Philippines, Sudan, Tanzania, Tunisia, and Zimbabwe
Country papers on The Socio-economic Situation of Rural Women for: Albania, Armenia, Bosnia-Herzogovia, Macedonia, and Romania.
Rural Women of Latin America and the Caribbean, Preliminary contribution of FAO to the Sixth Regional Conference on the Integration of Women to the Economic and Social Development of Latin America and the Caribbean, Mar del Plata, Argentina, 25-29 September 1994.
A Synthesis Report: Towards the Development of a Regional Plan of Action for Women in Agriculture in the Near East (1996-2000).
Women, Agriculture and Rural Development: A Synthesis Report of the Africa Region.
Case Study on Women in the Peruvian Amazon.
Report of the Technical Workshop: Women in Agriculture and Rural Development, Dakar, Senegal, 15 November 1994.
FAO Guidelines for Reporting on the Situation of Women in Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.
FAO Guidelines for the Improvement of Gender-disaggregated Agricultural and Rural Statistics in Near Eastern Countries.
FAO Annotated Bibliography on Women, Agriculture and Rural Development.
