ABSTRACT: This paper discusses strategies for providing a social safety net and argues that the Basic Income Grant (BIG) is the best way forward for Namibia. BIG is a regular, unconditional income given to all individuals as a right of citizenship. This paper draws on...
Equal Life Foundation, “BIG Pilot Project Namibia: a Perspective,” Living Income Guaranteed. August 26, 2013.
Linda Raven, an American who works in Namibia teaching visiting university students, uses this blog to discuss Karl Widerquist’s two talks on BIG in Namibia in September. Raven contrasts the two talks—one given at a symposium hosted by the central bank, the other...
This article reports on Karl Widerquist’s lecture on BIG at the Bank of Namibia conference and on Social Safety Nets on September 26, 2013. The article also reports on the debate over BIG in Namibia. According to Widerquist, the quotes in the article are inaccurate,...
Karl Widerquist, Associate Professor at SFS-Q, Georgetown University, will give a public lecture entitled, “Basic Income Grant: A remedy for poverty and inequality in Namibia?” at 6:30pm on Tuesday, 24 September 2013 at the Windhoek Multipurpose Youth Centre, Auala...
Namibia is experiencing its worst drought in decades. Hundreds of thousands of people are affected. Several groups have decided to use the Basic Income Guarantee (BIG) as a model for distributing relief aid. The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) initiated the effort,...
The Bank of Namibia (Namibia’s central bank) will discuss the Basic Income Grant at it’s upcoming annual symposium. The focus of this year’s symposium is “Social safety nets in Namibia: Assessing current programmes and future options.” Karl Widerquist, of Georgetown...
Namibia is experiencing its worst drought in decades and the President has declared a state of emergency. By now nearly 800,000 people are affected and in urgent need of support. At the initiation of Bishop Kameeta, of the Lutheran Churches in Namibia, has organized...
Karl Widerquist will discuss the basic income guarantee as a way to provide a more effective social safety net in Namibia at a conference in Windhoek on September 26, 2013. He will discuss the experience in Alaska with its dividend program as well as pilot projects in...
This PowerPoint slideshow by Uhuru Dempers summarizes some of the results of the Basic Income Pilot Project in Otjivero, Namibia. It’s online at: https://www.slideshare.net/SIANIAgri/basic-income-grant-pilot-project-in-namibiasentationatstockholmseminar11thsept2012
According to AllAfrica.com, Uhuru Dempers, a supporter of the Basic Income Grant (BIG) pilot project in Otjivero, Namibia said that the BIG Coalition of Namibia is unlikely to be able to continue the project any longer. The coalition maintained a BIG in this small...
The German television show, “Bread for the World,” on the public-service German television broadcaster, ZDF, recently called for donations to support Otjivero’s BIG pilot project in Namibia.
According to the Namibian, Magdalena Sepulveda, the United Nations (UN) special rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, has called on the Namibian government “to put aside prejudices against the poor and implement the Basic Income Grant (BIG) as soon as...
Seminar with Uhuru Dempers, the BIG Coalition and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Republic of Namibia; Introductions by Carin Norberg,The Nordic Africa Institute and Gunnel Axelsson Nycander, Church of Sweden. Social protection such as child grants and social...
The Basic Income pilot project that has been running for more than three years in Otjivero, Namibia may have given its last grant payment. The Basic Income Grant (BIG) Coalition, which has run the project since 2008, is running out of money. It has put out an...
On the 1st March the Namibian Basic Income Grant Coalition published a press release [entitled “The Basic Income Grant (BIG) is Government’s Responsibility”] relating to the recent two year Citizen’s Income pilot project in two Namibian villages (reported in the...
The BIG debate in Namibia continues as the Permanent Secretary of Environment and Tourism, Kalumbi Shangula, criticized the BIG coalition’s recent arguments for BIG. Shangla, surprisingly argued that the size of the BIG coalition’s proposed Basic Income Grant of 100...
According to the article “BIG can benefit orphans and vulnerable children”, which was witten by Johanna Absalom and published on 8. July 2011 in the Namibian Economist, Dr Henry Platt, executive director of the Church Alliance for Orphans and Vulnerable Children...
The website now features a new design, more publications and presentations as well as a collection of articles, sound bites and TV recordings (in English and German) about the BIG campaign and the BIG pilot project from 2009 to 2011. It is online at: www.bignam.org
The BIG Coalition in Namibia has been running a BIG pilot project in the village of Otjivero for several years now. On February 6-12, 2011, Brazilian Senator Eduardo Suplicy visited the project while on an exchange visit between Brazil and Namibia. In addition to...