If you walk through Katutura or sit under a Mopane tree in the Omusati Region, you will hear the same thing from young people: “We are tired of being talked about, not talked to”. Namibia has big plans. Beautiful plans. But as someone born in the 2000s, I have watched five National Development Plans come and go. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) sounded hopeful in 2015. Now with 2030 approaching, I have to ask honestly: What have we achieved and why does it still feel so slow?
I want to focus on the two SDGs that touch my life and the lives of friends everyday: SDG 4 (Quality education) and SDG 8 (Decent work and economic growth). These two are connected like a rope. Without good education, there is no decent work. Without work education feels useless.
What we have achieved so far?
To be fair, Namibia has done some good things. On 24 April 2025, the government announced that higher education and vocational training would become free starting 2026. That is a big deal. My cousin had to drop out of UNAM because her parents lost their jobs during the drought. If free education had come earlier, she could be a teacher now. There are also private efforts: I read in The Namibian newspaper that Capricorn Foundation put N$1.6 million into e-learning and early childhood development (Future media, 2026). This helped rural schools get tablets and data. It is not perfect, but it is something.
On the economic side I came across a UNCTAD (UN Trade and Development) report last year that said Namibia could create 26,400 new jobs by processing our minerals instead of just exporting them raw. Which means that young people trained in welding, engineering and logistics could find work. The government launched a youth fund again N$ 257 million and hosted the Region 5 Youth games which created over 1,600 temporary jobs (United Nations Namibia, 2026). For a few months my friend from Okahao worked. He said it was the first time he felt useful.
Where we are failing?
Let me be honest, the gap between what is written and what is implemented is huge. Youth unemployment is not 39% anymore. Most recent estimates say it is above 46% (Hamata,2025). I have friends who have degrees in agriculture, business and education who are now into makeup and selling tomatoes on the road side. One article in the Namibian quoted a former politician Hidipo Hamata saying “Namibia is a nation of policy papers instead of practical policies”. That hurt to read because it is true.
I saw another report by a researcher named Elina M. Amadhila (published in Sage Journals, 2025) about farming and young people. He found that the average Namibian farmer is 68 years old. Young people do not want to farm because there is no security, no insurance and no guaranteed market. One drought or one flood and everything is gone (Amadhila, 2025). The government talks about agriculture, but does not back it up with real protection for young farmers.
© Rosina LuwaaAnother failure is that young people are asked to speak at workshops, but ideas are ignored. The UNDP (United Nation Development Programme) wrote in 2025 that young Namibians proposed a National Youth Climate Council dedicated for innovation and funding. Nothing has happened. We are used as decorations. We sit on panels. We smile for photos. Then older people make the same decisions they always make.
What we can still do before 2030?
We have less than four years left. That is not much time, but it is enough for small, real actions. I will not suggest something impossible, but something I think young people can do: First we need to stop waiting for white-collar jobs and take technical training seriously. The EU has a programme called sustain-it that teaches young people to monitor the environment using drones and sensors (The Namibian, 2025). Those skills are valuable. Instead of fighting for scarce government office jobs, we should fill the green economy. Solar panel installation, water recycling, digital mapping – these are real careers.
Second, we must form cooperatives. One person cannot get a loan from Agribank. But ten people together? That is different. In the North I have seen small groups of young farmers pool their money for irrigation equipment. They share the risk. As Amadhila argues, coupling agriculture with social structure like insurance is essential and a cooperative provides the collective power to secure that protection. If we do this before 2030, we can become a new generation of farmers that Namibia desperately needs.
Third – and this is the hardest one – we must hold our leaders accountable using facts. Not protests that get broken up. Not angry Facebook posts. Real data. We can create simple WhatsApp groups or free websites that track local projects. “The water point in Omuthiya was promised in March. Is it built? No. Why not? When leaders know we are watching, they move faster. As Hamata said, “we must stop clapping for broken promises”.
Final thought
I am not angry with my country. I love Namibia. But love means telling the truth. We have good policies. We have hard working young people. What we do not have is enough delivery. By 2030, I want to look back and say, we closed the gap between paper and pavement. That will only happen if young people stop being spectators and start being watchful builders and cooperators. The government will not save us. The UN will not save us. We must save ourselves – together!
By Magano Iipinge