There are several government ministries and agencies that share responsibilities for early childhood education and development (IECD) services in Namibia. The Ministry of Gender Equality and Child Welfare leads IECD efforts and chairs the National IECD Committee, coordinating policies, programs, and standards for children from birth to age 18. The Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture and Ministry of Health and Social Services also serve on the committee and collaborate on pre-primary education for ages 5-6, teacher training, health and nutrition standards. Other ministries like Safety and Security, Urban and Rural Development, and the National Planning Commission work with the committee in advisory or coordinating roles.

1. There are several ministries and other agencies responsible for the smooth running of IECD
services in Namibia.
Let us look at the integrated roles of Ministries involved in IECD at national level.
1. The Ministry of Gender Equality and Child Welfare (MGECW)
The responsibilities of the MGECW are:
 This ministry will take responsibility for the pre-primary school services for children aged
5-6 years.
 The MGECW is the lead ministry responsible for all IECD activities. The MOEAC and the
MoHSS are the main partners of the MGECW in IECD.
 The MGECW is responsible for the complete development and supervision of policies and
programmes for children and their families from the child’s birth to the age of 18.
 Furthermore, they will have a specific focus on the provision of IECD services for children
aged 0-4+ years.
 The MGECW is the chair of the National IECD Committee and as such they are
responsible for coordinating meetings and activities, developing appropriate guidelines
and establishing standards, regulations and procedures for the registration, monitoring
and evaluation of IECD programmes.
2. The Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture (MoEAC)
The responsibilities of the MoEAC are:
 This ministry will take responsibility for the pre-primary school services for children aged
5-6 years.
 The MoEAC will work in partnerships to establish links between the IECD and pre-primary
programmes as members of the National IECD Committee.
 The IECD National Coordinator from the MoEAC will work closely with the other three
IECD
 National Coordinators from the MGECW, the MoHSS and the NECD NGO Association,
to ensure a coordinated and inter-sectorial approach to the implementation of the National
IECD Policy.
 The National Institute for Educational Development (NIED) has to ensure close
cooperation between those designing curricula for IECD and those designing curricula for
the early primary school phases so that children can move from IECD programmes to
formal education without hassle.
 The MoEAC in cooperation with the MGECW and other IECD stakeholders is responsible
for the design, development and delivery of training courses for IECD educarers and for
the training of trainers
 The MoEAC is responsible for developing curriculum guidelines and for creating the
means for certification and accreditation of all IECD training courses.
 Furthermore, the MoEAC is responsible for developing and setting up national standards
for IECD facilities and educarers as well doing regular field visits as to applying quality
control over IECD programmes. This is done in collaboration with the MGECW.
 The MoEAC will, in collaboration with MGECW and other partners, take responsibility for
developing a career path for IECD educarers. Therefore, to uplift the profession the
MoEAC, in collaboration with the MGECW and other IECD partners, will undertake to
develop undergraduate and postgraduate degree courses in IECD.

2. 3. The Ministry of Health and Social Services (MoHSS)
The responsibilities of the MOHSS are:
 The MoHSS will serve in partnership as a member of the national IECD Committee.
 The MoHSS will serve in partnership as a member of the national IECD Committee.
 An IECD National coordinator will be appointed from within the MoHSS and will work in
partnership with the other three IECD National Coordinators from the MGECW, the
MoEAC and the NECD NGO Association to ensure a coordinated and inter-sectorial
approach to the implementation of the National IECD Policy.
 The MoHSS will be responsible for all aspects of IECD programmes relating to health and
nutrition.
 The MoHSS together with the MGECW is responsible for establishing standards for
monitoring health, nutrition, growth, immunisation, sanitation and hygiene among young
children in IECD centres and home-based care settings.
4. The Ministry of Safety and Security (MSS)
The responsibilities of the Ministry of Safety and Security (MSS)are:
 The MSS will serve in partnership as a member of the National IECD Committee.
 The MSS will be represented on the National IECD Committee by an official of the Women
and Child Protection Unit. This representative will advise on issues of safety, security and
protection of young children and provide guidelines for IECD educarers in their work with
children and their families.
5. The Ministry of Urban and Rural Development (MURD) (Previously Ministry of
Regional and Local Government, Housing and Rural Development (MRLGHRD)
The responsibilities of the Ministry of Urban and Rural Development are:
 The MURD will serve in partnership as a member of the National IECD Committee.
 In collaboration with the MGECW, the MURD will be responsible for coordinating the roles
of the Regional Councils, Local Authorities and Municipalities in the provision of IECD
services according to the National IECD Policy.
6. The National Planning Commission (NPC)
The responsibilities of the NPC are:
 The NPC will serve in an advisory capacity as a line ministry member of the National IECD
Committee. They will coordinate and seek funding for the development of IECD.