The office of the First Gentleman has launched its first engagement on "The Plight of the Boy Child" in the Zambezi region.

Speaking at the engagement, the First Gentleman Epaphras Ndaitwah said the call is for the boy child to be resilient in their educational pursuits.

Ndaitwah said education is one of the areas where the boy child is lagging behind.

According to academic records from UNAM and NUST, there is a higher graduation rate of females over their male counterparts.

Ndaitwah called on the boy child to stop suffering in silence.

Namibians, we must learn to talk and discuss things that are affecting us, we must open up, we must open up. Some of the things are not shameful, some of the things are things that are just troubling you but are things you can open up about and tell your family and tell your friend, and you might end up being counselled in the right way."

The community activist, Riaan Siyama, praised the first gentleman's initiative, expressing readiness to work with his office if resources allow.

"All of my engagements with the stakeholders that I have just shared with you, Honourable First Gentleman of the country, where are the resources allocated to the boy child? Because one thing in all of these offices, specifically in the Zambezi Region, that I have done engagements with personally in our youth-led organisation is there are no resources that are allocated."

"We see increasing boys and young men struggling, as you have mentioned, with suicide and quite a lot of things. What deliberate national programme or policy can be introduced, and is your office introducing it to support the boy child without erasing the gains that are made for women's empowerment so that gender equality becomes truly inclusive and no child is left?" says Rainhold Ndaikile, founder of Ndaikile Raising a Boy Child.

In response, Ndaitwah said the solutions begin with those willing to take up the responsibility.

"Let us start from within ourselves. The question there is whether there would be outreach. I must be honest; bringing together this crowd to me is already an outreach, an outreach in the manner that takes the message."