Although the number of new HIV infections has begun to decline, HIV prevalence in Namibia has stabilised at a high level and continues to burden the health care system, posing serious developmental challenges. Girls and young women are particularly affected by new infections. Physical health, prevention of early pregnancies and strengthening the role of women in the Namibian society are therefore key aspects of the National Development Plan. Sport encourages youth to adopt a healthier lifestyle, increases self-esteem and strengthens awareness of gender roles.

In Namibia, the German development cooperation aims to promote sexual and reproductive health and to improve the quality of educational services in the Ohangwena region. Newly constructed or renovated sports grounds at schools and colleges offer safe spaces for children and youth who want to join S4D trainings and physical education classes. Following the positive resonance on S4D in the Ohangwena region, the Namibian Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture works towards integrating S4D into the national syllabus for physical education. Furthermore, the University of Namibia qualifies physical education students in S4D. The German development cooperation’s “Sport for Development in Africa” (S4DA) Regional Project supports the national, regional and local partners in this regard.

Additionally, the German Development Cooperation works with the Namibian Football Association (NFA) to strengthen girls and young women through football. In close cooperation with the programme “Galz and Goals”, a pedagogical programme has been established focusing on HIV/AIDS prevention, health promotion and life skills training. The programme “Free Throw – Basketball Artists Against HIV/AIDS” applies basketball to promote HIV/AIDS prevention and school education. The coaching manuals “Football4Life”, “Basketball4Life”, “Volleyball4Life” and “Netball4Life” support coaches in implementing appropriate S4D activities in their training sessions. The programme also connects with the UNAIDS Namibia campaign “Protect the Goal”.

We invite you to have a look at the following teaching and learning materials, which were created by the German Development Cooperation on behalf of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and our partner organizations in Namibia. You will find a more detailed description about the materials in our collection S4D Tools for your Practice/Teaching and Learning Materials.

Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) is an essential part of any S4D programme and all activities on the ground. The M&E tools below have been developed in cooperation with the German Sport University Cologne (DSHS). They were applied in different working contexts in Namibia. If you are interested in M&E, this S4D Resource Toolkit offers you additional comprehensive information about M&E in the field of S4D and provides further hands-on M&E tools for your own practice.

If you want to have more detailed and/or further information about S4D in the country, please have a look at the following publications.