Peer-reviewed article
AN INTEGRATED INDICATOR FRAMEWORK TO PROMOTE CHILD WELL-BEING IN NAMIBIA
Rahimisa Kamuingona, Babette Rabie ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-sonnet-5-5This article looks at how child well-being is tracked in Namibia. It notes that the 2004 National Policy on Orphans and Vulnerable Children no longer fits the problems vulnerable children face today. The author reviewed national and international child protection reports, evaluation studies and indices to identify indicators currently in use. Based on this review, the article proposes an integrated indicator framework covering several dimensions of child well-being, intended to help policy makers revise policy.
Key points
- Namibia has adopted several policies, laws and programmes to improve child well-being.
- The 2004 National Policy on Orphans and Vulnerable Children no longer adequately reflects the contemporary problems of vulnerable children.
- Available indicators mainly reflect objective well-being measures.
- There are gaps in tracking children's subjective experiences, child safety and the promotion of children's rights.
- The article offers an alternative integrated indicator framework capturing multiple dimensions of child well-being.
Limitations
Only the abstract is available, so the specific indicators, the review method and the evidence behind the framework are not described. The framework is proposed and there is no information on whether it has been tested or adopted.
Abstract
Namibia has adopted several policies, pieces of legislation and programmes aimed at improving the well-being of children. However, the Namibian National Policy on Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC) of 2004 no longer adequately reflects the contemporary problems faced by vulnerable children. Policy makers require a comprehensive and integrated set of indicators to inform policy revision to make informed choices. This article reviewed national and international child protection reports, evaluation studies and indices to identify contemporary indicators for tracking child well-being in Namibia. It found that while the available indicators reflect objective well-being measures, there is a gap in tracking the subjective experiences of children, child safety and the promotion of children’s rights. The article offers an alternative integrated indicator framework that captures multiple dimensions of child well-being. Adoption of this framework can enable policy makers to make more informed decisions to support vulnerable children. Keywords: child well-being, indicator framework, objective well-being, orphans and vulnerable children, subjective well-being