by Yannick Vanderborght | Oct 25, 2012 | Research
Starting from Amartya Sen’s ideas about freedom and development, the article discusses the idea of basic income and its potential to promote both development and protective security. The theoretical analysis is connected with the empirical data of the first project that monitored the effects of basic income on a real community, the village of Otjivero-Omitara in Namibia.
Full references: MURRA, Emanuele (2012), ‘Basic income, libertà e sviluppo per i paesi del Sud del mondo. Il caso del villaggio di Otjivero-Omitara’ (Basic Income, freedom and development to Southern Countries. The case of the village of Otjivero-Omitara) in M. Signore, L. Cuccurachi (eds.), Libertà democratiche e Sviluppo, Pensa Multimedia, Lecce 2012, pp. 177-186.
A pdf copy is avaible here:
https://unisalento.academia.edu/EmanueleMurra/Papers/1894398/Basic_income_liberta_e_sviluppo_per_i_paesi_del_Sud_del_mondo._Il_caso_del_villaggio_di_Otjivero-Omitara
by Yannick Vanderborght | Aug 30, 2012 | News
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 pensions have recently been introduced in a growing number of developing countries, with good results. In some countries, a universal, unconditional basic income grant (BIG) has been proposed as the best way to fight extreme poverty and decrease the high level of income inequality.
In Namibia, a coalition of churches, trade unions and NGOs is actively promoting BIG. The BIG coalition has implemented a pilot project in Otjivero, a poor, typical village of about 1000 inhabitants. For two years, everybody in the village received an unconditional grant of approximately 100 SEK per month (€12). The results were striking. In just six months, poverty dropped significantly. Malnutrition decreased, especially among children, and school attendance improved. Among the most important impacts were the effects on the local economy. The small but secure income enabled people to increase their economic activity, through starting small businesses or searching for jobs outside the village.
Practical details: September 12th 14h-16h Kyrkans hus. Sysslomansgatan/St Olofsgatan, room Laurentius Petri, Uppsala, Sweden.
by Karl Widerquist | Aug 26, 2012 | Research
Inter Press Service News Agency, Feb 16 2011
Servaas van den Bosch interviews Bertha Hamases, one of the recipients of the Basic Income pilot project, which took place in rural Namibia over the last three years and ended this spring. In the interview Hamases argues for implementing BIG on a nationwide basis.
The interview is online at:
https://www.ipsnews.net/2011/02/namibia-basic-income-grant-let-others-taste-what-we-have-tasted/
by Karl Widerquist | Jun 4, 2012 | News
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 international call for donations to keep the project going. If it doesn’t receive sufficient funds, payments made earlier this year will be the last.
The project targets nearly 1000 people in the small town of Otjivero in rural Namibia. Organizers originally planned the project to last for two years, but when they saw the positive effects of the policy, they decided to keep it going as long as they could or until the government introduced a nationwide BIG. The results point to a significant drop in child malnutrition, improved access to education and positive performance and output, increased small business activities, improved access to ARVs for HIV+ residents and better community cooperation.
If you are interested in donating to the project, the organizers provide the following instructions:
All amounts are welcomed. You can either give a once-off donation directly or instruct your bank to make a debit order for a minimum of N$100 over 12 or 24 months. Please pay your contribution into either one of the following bank accounts:
Namibian account:
Account name: Name of Bank: Account number: Branch number: Branch name:
ELCRN – BIG Namibia First National Bank 62146088457 281972
Windhoek Commercial Suite
European account in Germany:
Account name: Reference: Name of Bank: Account number: Branch Number (BLZ) BIC:
IBAN:
For more information contact:
Blumhardt-Gemeinde HD-Kirchheim BIG Namibia H+G Bank Heidelberg 100 027 61
672 901 00 GENODE 61 HD 3 DE66 6729 0100 0010 0027 61
Or visit the BIG coalition’s website at: www.bignam.org
For more news about the project, see the following stories:
Sasman, Catherine (2 March 2012) “Namibia: Basic Income Grant Project Money Runs Dry,” The Namibian:
https://allafrica.com/stories/201203020177.html
Namibian Basic Income Grant Coalition (May 2012) “The Basic Income Grant (BIG) is Government’s Responsibility.” Online at:
https://bignam.org/Publications/Press_release_March_2012_to_Government.pdf.
by Citizens' Income Trust | May 23, 2012 | Research
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 Citizen’s Income Newsletter, issue 2 for 2009): ‘Despite the positive results, the Namibian government has still not committed itself to the introduction of a BIG [Basic Income Grant: Citizen’s Income] in Namibia. Instead, senior government leaders have raised concerns that the grant would make people lazy and dependent on hand-outs. Such perceptions are rooted in prejudices rather than being based on the evidence provided by Otjivero! We wish to point out that the BIG Coalition arranged for many Namibians, including Members of Parliament (MPs), to visit Otjivero and to witness the developments there first-hand. The honourable MPs were free to assess the impact of the BIG themselves and they were impressed with the results achieved in Otjivero. However, they preferred to express their views in private instead of speaking out publicly in support of a national BIG.’
https://bignam.org/Publications/Press_release_March_2012_to_Government.pdf.
