The development assistance framework of the UN is guided by the full-range of human rights principles: civil and political, economic and social rights. The human rights-based approach to programming incorporates these human rights principles into the programming process. It is also an effective tool for identifying the areas where development programming can have the greatest impact.

"All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights." -Universal Declaration of Human Rights

The human rights based approach begins with an assessment of rights that are unfulfilled. A causality analysis is then performed to identify the immediate, underlying and root causes of these rights. The third step in the approach is to identify, through a role analysis, the individuals and institutions that have duties in the fulfilment of the specific rights. Gaps in the capacities of these duty-bearers are then identified. The UNDAF will focus on the capacity gaps relevant to underlying and root causes that are common to key rights violations. An important dimension of the human rights-based approach is that the process is as important as the outcome. Therefore, a participatory process has been designed to ensure maximum involvement of stakeholders and national ownership.

This document does not attempt to provide a comprehensive assessment of Namibia’s political, economic and social development nor of the full compliance with the international declarations, treaties and covenants that it has joined. The rights assessed here were chosen for their relevance to the most critical national development objectives. The selection of rights for assessment was based on those critical areas where human rights obligations are still largely unfulfilled and where Namibia could benefit from international assistance. The UN System in Namibia acknowledges at the outset that the GRN has been successful in fulfilling most of the rights of its citizens. The fact that this assessment focuses mostly on areas where rights are unfulfilled should not detract from this important and positive fact.