2001 Policy on Arts and Culture
Namibia, during the period being reported, the cultural sector was guided by the 2001 Policy on Arts and Culture, which outlined the vision, mission and goals of governemnt in relation to arts and culture. The vision of the policy was a united and flourishing nation, celebrating the diversity of its artistic and cultural expressions, achieving sincere reconcililiation through mutual respect and understadningn, solidarity, peace, equility, tolerance and inclusion, as well as treasuring and protecting Namibia's material and spiritual heritage and customs, developing our creative talents throughout lifetimes, and employing skills and knowledge for economic development and the common good. The main objectives of the policy were to:
- uphold unity in diversity to give all Namibians a sense of identity and pride in their own creative talents and to improve their quality of life
- safeguard, extend and promote our physical, linguistic and spiritual heritage
- promote widespread culural and artistic expression
The measure was guided by national and international frameworks or instruments, such as the Constitution of the republic of Namibia, Recommendations on Culture of the Presidential Commission on Education, Culture and Training (1999), the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the UNESCO Recommendations on Culture and the Status of the Artists, the World report on Culture (Stockholm), the OAU Policy on Culture, the OAU Policy on Culture Industries Development, the SADC Policy on Culture, Information and Sport. The Policy listed various initiatives to fulfil its objectives.
- increased number of diverse cultural expression activities;
- increased number of people participating in the activities;
- growth in the number of programmes undertaken by the state cultural agencies;
- growth of more cultural institutions in the private and NGO sectors encouraged;
- mutual respect, pride and tolerance for the countrys' forms of diverse cultural expressions enhanced; and
- Diverse indigenous cultural expressions preserved and promoted.
- Continued widespread cultural activities nationally
- Enhanced nation building, peace and stability
The Namibian Government allocates a budget to the implementation of the measure through the Ministry responsible for Arts and Culture. The Ministry oversees the budget allocations to the state cultural agencies that operate and implement arts and culture programmes that aim to meet the objectives set out in the policy.