Privacy Policy

Last updated: 21 August 2026

1. Introduction

This Privacy Policy explains how Right Start Namibia (“Right Start”, “we”, “us” or “our”) handles information in connection with the website www.rightstart.com.na (the “Website”).

This Right Start website is Namibia’s national platform for trusted Early Childhood Development information, support, and advocacy led by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Child Welfare (MGECW) of the Government of the Republic of Namibia. The Website is maintained by Development Workshop Namibia (DWN).

The Ministry’s mandate includes promoting gender equality and the well-being of children in Namibia.

We respect your privacy and are committed to handling information responsibly, transparently and securely.

This Privacy Policy applies to information collected through your use of the Right Start Website. It does not necessarily apply to information collected by the Ministry, Development Workshop Namibia, or third-party organisations through other websites, services or offline activities.

2. Who is responsible for the Website?

The Website is maintained by:

Development Workshop Namibia (DWN)
PO Box 40723
Ausspannplatz
Windhoek, Namibia

DWN is a Namibian not-for-profit organisation working with communities and partners across Namibia.

The programme itself is operated under the auspices of the:

Ministry of Gender Equality and Child Welfare (MGECW)
Juvenis Building
Independence Avenue
Windhoek, Namibia
Tel: +264 61 283 3111
Email: genderequality@mgecw.gov.na

For questions specifically concerning the Right Start Website or this Privacy Policy, you may contact Development Workshop Namibia using the contact details published on the DWN website.

3. Information we collect

The Website is primarily an information and public-awareness website. It does not provide a contact form and we do not intentionally collect personal information through an online registration or account system.

When you visit the Website, certain limited information may nevertheless be processed automatically as part of providing, securing and improving the Website.

This may include:

  • your IP address;
  • browser type and version;
  • operating system or device information;
  • the pages or resources you access;
  • the date and time of your visit;
  • referring website information;
  • technical information relating to the operation and security of the Website; and
  • aggregated information about how visitors use the Website.

We do not use the Website to intentionally collect sensitive personal information about visitors.

4. Website analytics – Plausible Analytics

The Website uses Plausible Analytics to obtain general statistics about Website traffic and usage.

Plausible is a privacy-focused analytics service designed to provide website statistics without using cookies or collecting personal data for tracking or profiling purposes. Plausible states that its analytics platform does not use cookies and does not collect or store personal data in the conventional manner associated with many web analytics services.

We use Plausible to understand, for example:

  • how many people visit the Website;
  • which pages are viewed;
  • which parts of the Website are most useful to visitors;
  • approximate geographic information at an aggregated level;
  • which devices and browsers are commonly used; and
  • general patterns of Website usage.

We do not use Google Analytics on the Website.

Plausible analytics is used for statistical and Website-improvement purposes and is not intended to identify individual visitors.

5. Cookies

The Website does not use cookies for advertising, behavioural profiling or user tracking.

Plausible Analytics is designed to operate without cookies.

Some third-party services embedded in or linked from the Website, however, may use cookies or similar technologies when you interact with their services. These third parties operate under their own privacy policies and terms.

6. Embedded YouTube videos

The Website may contain videos embedded from YouTube, a service operated by Google.

When you view a page containing an embedded YouTube video, your browser may communicate with YouTube and Google. Depending on how the embedded video is configured and whether you interact with it, YouTube or Google may collect information about your device, browser, IP address and interaction with the video.

YouTube’s processing of information is governed by Google’s and YouTube’s own privacy policies and terms. We do not control the information collected by YouTube when you use its services.

If you do not wish to have information collected by YouTube, you should avoid interacting with embedded YouTube content and review Google’s and YouTube’s privacy settings and policies.

7. Links to social media

The Website contains links to social media platforms, including:

  • Facebook;
  • Instagram; and
  • YouTube.

These are links to external websites and services. Clicking one of these links will take you away from the Right Start Website.

We do not control the privacy practices, cookies, tracking technologies or information collection practices of these third-party platforms. Any information you provide to them will be handled according to their respective privacy policies and terms of service.

We encourage you to review the privacy policies of these services before using them.

8. Email links

The Website may contain mailto links that allow you to contact the programme or its representatives by email.

The Website does not provide an online contact form.

If you choose to contact us by email, the information contained in your email, including your email address and any other personal information you choose to provide, may be processed in order to respond to your enquiry.

Please avoid sending sensitive personal information by email unless it is specifically necessary and you have been advised to do so.

Email communications may be retained for as long as reasonably necessary to deal with your enquiry, maintain appropriate records, or meet applicable administrative or legal requirements.

9. How we use information

Information associated with use of the Website may be used for purposes including:

  • operating and maintaining the Website;
  • ensuring the security and technical integrity of the Website;
  • identifying and resolving technical problems;
  • understanding general Website usage;
  • improving the content, accessibility and functionality of the Website;
  • responding to enquiries sent by email; and
  • meeting applicable legal, regulatory or administrative requirements.

We do not sell, rent or trade personal information collected through the Website for commercial purposes.

10. Information sharing

We do not intentionally sell or commercially rent visitors’ personal information.

Information may be accessible to service providers where this is necessary to operate, secure, maintain or analyse the Website. Such providers may include Website hosting, technical support, security and analytics providers.

We may also disclose information where required or permitted by applicable law, or where disclosure is necessary to protect the security, rights or property of the Website, its users, DWN or MGECW.

Third-party services such as YouTube and social media platforms may process information independently when you interact with their services. Their processing is governed by their own policies.

11. Data security

We take reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect information associated with the Website against unauthorised access, loss, misuse, alteration or disclosure.

However, no transmission of information over the internet and no electronic storage system can be guaranteed to be completely secure. We therefore cannot guarantee the absolute security of information transmitted to or through the Website.

12. Children’s privacy

Right Start is a development programme concerned with issues relating to children, families and communities. However, the Website is an information resource and is not intended to collect personal information from children.

We do not knowingly request or collect personal information from children through the Website.

Parents, guardians and caregivers should encourage children to use the internet safely and should supervise children’s use of online services where appropriate.

If you believe that a child has provided personal information to us through the Website, please contact us so that we can consider the appropriate action.

13. Third-party websites

The Website may contain links to websites operated by other organisations, including government institutions, development partners, social media platforms and other external services.

We are not responsible for the content, security or privacy practices of external websites.

This Privacy Policy applies only to the Right Start Website. We recommend that you read the privacy policy of any external website before providing it with personal information.

14. Your privacy rights

Namibia recognises a constitutional right to privacy, including protection against unlawful interference with privacy, homes and communications. Namibia’s comprehensive data-protection framework is still developing, and a Data Protection Bill has been proposed to establish more detailed obligations concerning the processing of personal information and rights of individuals.

Regardless of the evolving legal framework, we aim to follow good data-protection practices by collecting only information that is reasonably necessary for the operation and improvement of the Website and by treating personal information responsibly.

If you have provided personal information to us, for example through email, you may contact us to ask about the information we hold and how it is being used. We will consider and respond to such requests in accordance with applicable law and our administrative requirements.

15. Changes to this Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes to the Website, the services we use, applicable law, or our privacy practices.

The date shown at the beginning of this Privacy Policy indicates when it was last updated.

We encourage visitors to check this page periodically for the latest version.

16. Contact us

If you have questions, concerns or comments about this Privacy Policy or the way information is handled through the Right Start Website, please contact:

Development Workshop Namibia (DWN)
PO Box 40723
Ausspannplatz
Windhoek, Namibia

Email: info@dw-namibia.org

DWN’s published contact information confirms its Windhoek office and email contact details.

For matters concerning the Ministry of Gender Equality and Child Welfare or the underlying government programme, you may also contact:

Ministry of Gender Equality and Child Welfare
Juvenis Building
Independence Avenue
Windhoek, Namibia
Tel: +264 61 283 3111
Email: genderequality@mgecw.gov.na

Privacy Policy for www.rightstart.com.na
Maintained by Development Workshop Namibia (DWN)
Programme of the Ministry of Gender Equality and Child Welfare (MGECW)
Last updated: 21 August 2026