Namibia’s School Health Transformation: The Beginning
In 2022, Dr Honor Young – People – Cardiff University and Professor . Rhiannon Evans from Cardiff University’s Home – DECIPHer hosted six Commonwealth Fellows from the University of Namibia | Open your mind (UNAM) and the Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture (MoEAC) in Namibia.
This three-month visit, part of Cardiff University’s Phoenix Project, marked the beginning of a transformative journey in the development of a Namibian School Health Research Network. Following this visit, Dr. Young and Professor Evans have made multiple research and training visits to Namibia, funded by ERASMUS and Taith, to support the development of the Namibian School Health Research Network (NSHRN).
Key Achievements: Namibia’s Health and Well-being Network
With the support of Dr. Young and Professor Evans through monthly mentoring, exchange visits, and training, colleagues at UNAM and MoEAC have successfully secured international funding from UNICEF and USAID to develop SHRN in Namibia. Additionally, funding from the Higher Education Funding Council Wales Official Development Assistance (HEFCW ODA) has been obtained to pilot NSHRN.
Based on the successful SHRN model, the Namibian team has successfully garnered support from key stakeholders across Namibia to develop a survey for secondary school-learners in Namibia to measure health, wellbeing and educational metrics. The team have optimised the survey for use with diverse groups and engaged 32 schools across four regions in Namibia to collect data through questionnaires and focus groups to ascertain the quantity, quality and acceptability of methods. This pilot data infrastructure supports integrated policy and practice planning related to young people’s health, well-being, and education.
What’s Next for NSHRN?
The next stage of the project involves:
- Further engaging with schools and relevant stakeholders.
- Sustaining school buy-in.
- Co-producing outputs.
- Scaling up the methodology.
- Securing additional funding to create a national infrastructure.
Ongoing Initiatives: Strengthening Namibia’s Health and Well-being Network
Our ongoing collaboration includes regular coaching and mentoring meetings with the NSHRN team. We continue to explore global funding opportunities to support the network’s expansion. We are also looking into more exchange opportunities for a meaningful partnership with the NSHRN team and have started a collaborative academic publication.
Personal Growth: Learning from NSHRN
“Visiting Namibia has strengthened a meaningful partnership with the Namibian SHRN team and helped us understand the context for the network. This will help us ensure the long-term delivery of NSHRN, a data infrastructure allowing stakeholders to deliver time-sensitive responses to young people’s health and well-being problems; the first of its kind in Africa.”
Institutional Impact: Cardiff University’s Growth
“The work strengthens and extends the existing Memorandum of Understanding between Cardiff University and the University of Namibia, which previously focused on medicine and biosciences. Our work is instrumental in extending collaboration in social sciences and public health and developing new collaborations between Wales and Africa.”
– Professor Rhiannon Evans and Dr. Honor Young Cardiff University
Read our Namibian Case Study.
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For more information visit shrn.org.uk.
To find out more please email Dr. Honor Young: youngh6@cardiff.ac.uk.