The Parliamentary Women's Caucus is calling for women's representation in Parliament to translate into greater influence in legislation and decision-making.
Speaking at the forum, participants highlighted the importance of strengthening women's legislative capacity to ensure that the voices of women and girls are heard.
Namibia's Parliament has made strides in women's representation, with women accounting for 42.3%. But the figure drops significantly in the National Council, where women make up only 16.7%.
Speaker of the National Assembly, Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila, described the figures as a call to action.
"This disparity is a call to action. It clearly indicates that our journey towards achieving gender-equal representation and gender-responsive governance is far from complete. But we are also reminded by the statistics about violence, especially gender-based violence, that we have a lot of work to do."
The forum brought together parliamentarians and stakeholders to strengthen the capacity of women lawmakers to influence legislation and advance issues affecting women and girls.
National Council Vice Chairperson Emma Muteka raised concern over what she described as declining participation by women in politics.
"We have observed a decline in women's participation in politics, which can be attributed to various factors within political science. Additionally, there is a noticeable lack of opportunities created specifically for women. Furthermore, a concerning point raised by the Speaker is that many young women have expressed feelings of fear."
The SADC Parliamentary Forum acknowledged Namibia's progress in women's representation while calling for greater influence in lawmaking.
In remarks delivered on behalf of Secretary General Boemo Sekgoma, the Forum highlighted the role of a strengthened Joint Parliamentary Women's Caucus in monitoring laws and engaging civil society.
"The creation of this caucus is more than an administrative milestone. It is an affirmation that women parliamentarians need an institutional platform through which they can cooperate across political parties and across two houses of parliament."
The Chairperson of the Joint Women's Parliamentary Caucus, Sharonice Busch, stressed the importance of legislation in shaping the laws that govern society.
"Why does this make the honourable speaker distinguish members? Because legislation is at the heart of social change. The studied model laws represent original consensus on how we can better protect, empower and uplift our women across borders."
The Joint Women's Parliamentary Caucus, in collaboration with the Inter-Parliamentary Union, is calling for continued investment in women's legislative skills and stronger collaboration to turn representation into meaningful participation in lawmaking.