OTJIWARONGO - Namibia, The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Namibia Country Office and the National Planning Commission (NPC) conducted a joint annual review of the UNFPA/Government Sixth Country Programme (2019-2023) from 2-3 March 2021 in Otjiwarongo. The 6th Country Programme is the framework under which UNFPA supports the Government of the Republic of Namibia.
The meeting was attended by over 40 participants from Government ministries, implementing partners (IPs), civil society organizations (CSOs), United Nations sister agencies and UNFPA East and Southern Africa Regional Office, to review the progress of the implementation of the second year roll-out of the Country Programme. The review also included discussions on the performance of both UNFPA and IPs, lessons learned and revision of proposed strategic interventions for 2021.
The Country Programme focuses on two outcomes of the UNFPA global Strategic Plan; Adolescents and Youth and Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment. In this regard, the Country Programme seeks to contribute to national efforts to harness the demographic dividend through investments in sexual and reproductive health, the elimination of gender-based violence and harmful practices that hinder the potential of youth and adolescents, especially girls and reduction in poverty in Namibia.
During the discussions, the Implementing Partners underlined the need for greater attention and consultation with young people when developing or executing developmental policies and programs. Discussions also led partners to brainstorm and to help them recognize what is most needed to be addressed in terms of outcomes even when humanitarian emergencies arise, one of which is the current COVID-19 pandemic.
Addressing the gathering, Ms. Ndaendomwenyo Sheya, National Development Advisor at the National Planning Commission, noted that, “Our deliberations over the past two days have revealed that we are moving on the right path of aligning our development partnership to the National Development Plans (NDPs) which is our marching order towards the successful implementation of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs),”
“Undoubtedly, we have made the shift in the mindset and we continue with a re-engineering of our development paradigm especially given the COVID-19 dynamics that we face in setting our development agenda for the upcoming NDP6. This demonstrates that we understand the importance to leverage efforts to implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development,” she added.
UNFPA Namibia Representative, Ms. Sheila Roseau, expressed appreciation to NPC and partners for their continued partnerships and collaboration. “The need to tackle high rates of adolescent pregnancies, gender-based violence and child marriage has come through strongly. So has a call for a high level of cooperation and coordination among partners as well as a need to expand partnerships with the private sector to achieve UNFPA’s three transformative results,” she said.
In 2018, UNFPA approved a total commitment of USD7.5 million for a five-year period, from 2019 – 2023. This is an average of USD$1.4 million per year in addition to other resources mobilized annually. UNFPA’s disbursement for 2020 was USD2,133,098.52.
Some of the key achievements in 2020 include reaching 13,300 vulnerable women and girls of reproductive age with dignity kits including 125 women and girls living with disability; 9,680 households with information on COVID-19, condoms and sexual and reproductive health; 1,064 marginalized girls with COVID-19 information and guidelines for school developed together with other UN agencies, as well as 20,000 men and boys reached through the What We Men Talk About Talk Show on intimate partner and sexual violence.
The Country Programme is aligned to the United Nations Partnership Framework 2019-2023, the Harambee Prosperity Plan, the NDP5, sector strategic plans and the SDGs. UNFPA remains committed to delivering a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe and every young person's potential is fulfilled.
