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Eswatini Government officials on a Human Resource Planning Mission to Namibia

The National Planning Commission (NPC) received a request from the Eswatini Policy Analysis and Research Center (ESEPARC) to arrange and coordinate a learning mission on Human Resource Development for Eswatini in Namibia. The ESEPARC, a government think tank under the Eswatini Ministry of Finance as well as the Ministry of Labour and Social Security- Human Resources Planning and Development Unit (HRPD) is mandated to coordinate the implementation of the National Human Resource Development Planning Program.

The ESEPARC AND HRPD are currently working together to develop a National Human Resource Development Policy and implementation plan. It was against this background ESEPARC wanted to learn about the coordination, resourcing and implementation of national human resource planning and skill development in Namibia. In addition, the delegation wanted to interact with the different institutions involved in the human resource planning system in Namibia. It is worth noting that the NPC of Namibia has been entrusted with the responsibility of ensuring that there is a balance between supply and demand in the labour market for Namibia to achieve full employment in the economy.

Various institutions were invited by NPC to share their experience with the Eswatini delegation. These institutions included, Ministry of Higher Education Training and Innovation (MHETI), Namibia Employer’s Federation (NEF), Ministry of Labour, Industrial Relations and Employment Creation (MIRLEC), National Council for Higher Education (NCHE), Namibia Statistics Agency (NSA), Namibia Student Financial Assistance Fund (NSFAF and the Namibia Training Authority (NTA). The workshop was concluded from 23-24 November 2023 at the National Planning Commission of Namibia.

The Eswatini delegation received valuable insight into the following NHRP aspects:

  • Factors of supply and demand
  • Linking skills development to national development priorities
  • The legal and regulatory framework for Namibia for effective human resource Development
  • Availability of required skills and productivity in the Labour Market
  • Unemployment policies, work-based planning systems and inclusivity in the Labour Market
  • Labour market information
  • Labour market statistics management and frequency of data collection for evidence-based decision
  • Mechanisms for coordinating and funding human resource development
  • Application and effectiveness of the training levy in development skills: Challenges and Successes

This was a successful mission which strengthened cooperation between the two countries and provided the necessary information and best practices towards the implementation of a national human resources planning framework in Eswatini. Equally important, NPC and ESEPARC could collaborate in research since the link was established during the mission.

The interaction was of mutual beneficial as Namibia also learned from ESWATINI team during the discussions. Consequently, benchmarking has allowed for comparison of performance on how Namibia has implemented different policies that promotes Human Resources Development, while the Eswatini delegation benefited in gaining a better understanding of the path to developing similar policies in their country. Learning from mistakes that Namibia made during the process may put the Eswatini in a position where they would not repeat the same mistakes and finding better solutions based on the strategies employed. This benchmarking exercise will serve as baseline information when Eswatini starts the formulation process.