Universal Periodic Review Working Group – 38th Session

Universal Periodic Review of Namibia

Statement by Australia

3 May 2021

Australia welcomes Namibia's continued efforts to empower women through innovation and development, including by establishing the International Women's Peace Centre.

We remain concerned by ongoing discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation including through the criminalisation of same sex relations. Likewise, corruption remains a threat to economic prosperity in Namibia.

Australia recommends that Namibia:

1. Continue recent efforts to protect survivors of gender-based violence, including by streamlining processes for obtaining protection orders under the Combating of Domestic Violence Act (2003).
2. Formally repeal the legacy common law prohibition of sodomy.
3. Continue efforts to eradicate corruption, including by: maximising funding of the Anti-Corruption Commission; promoting corruption reporting from the public; and reforming sections 21(1) and 31(1) of the Anti-Corruption Act (2003) to make the thresholds for investigation, and criminal referral, objective.