For those interested in a quick review of Namibia
Political Situation
The country gained its independence on March 21, 1990 from South African mandate after a long armed struggle led by the South West Africa People’s Organization (SWAPO). SWAPO leader Sam Nujoma was installed as the country’s first president, initiating a policy of national reconciliation and unity. President Nujoma is currently on his third term, following an amendment to the Constitution that allowed him to stand for election a third time. Legislative and presidential elections are held every five years, the next one due in 2004. The last National Assembly elections in 1999 saw SWAPO take 76% of the vote, while the Congress of Democrats (CoD) took 10% of the vote, the Democratic Turnhalle Alliance of Namibia (DTA) 9%, the United Democratic Front (UDF) 3% and Monitor Action Group (MAG) 1%. The legal system of Namibia is based on the Constitution of 1990 and Roman-Dutch Law, with an independent judiciary ensuring the rule of law.
Namibia remains a stable and functional multi-party democracy with a clear division between executive, legislature and judiciary and after Botswana, it is rated second in Africa in terms of good governance. The Government’s main tool against corruption is the anti-corruption bill, which was passed by the National Assembly in April 2003 and includes the provision for an independent anti-corruption agency. Also in terms of human rights, the country can boast a better record than many of its African neighbours. On March 27, 2003, after a prolonged debate, the National Assembly approved the Combating of Domestic Violence Bill, which should tackle the problem of violence against women and children. President Sam Nujoma, re-elected in the presidential elections in 1999, has recently announced that he would not stand for a fourth term. In 2002-3, there were reshuffles of government resulting in the appointment of a new Prime Minister, Minister of Finance, Minister of Information and Broadcasting, Director-General of the National Planning Commission, Foreign Affairs, Trade Industry and a new Vice President and Secretary-General of SWAPO.
The Swakopmund Donor Round Table reinforced the political dialogue and provided an opportunity for Government to reaffirm to the international community that it does require Development Partners’ support to meet Namibia’s goals of “development and growth.”
The land debate has focused on the redistribution of commercial land and the improved use of communal land and the allocation of individual rights and the establishment of an effective administration in communal areas. The Permanent Technical Team has been established and is expected to work on the Action Plan on Land Reform in Namibia. This will be a blueprint within which all issues pertaining to land reform will be addressed.
Land Reform will continue to be pursued within the provisions of the Constitution of the Republic of Namibia as well as within the provisions of the relevant pieces of legislation.
The Government established two Committees, one at political level: the Ad Hoc Committee on Land Reform and at technical level there is a Project Steering Committee (PSC ) on the development of an action plan on land reform.
Concerning the policy framework, the Communal Land Reform Act, No.5 of 2002 is now in place. This law is fundamental to the administration and management of land in communal areas in the Republic of Namibia . This Act together with the Agricultural (Commercial) Land Reform Act of 1995, forms a holistic legal approach to land reform in Namibia . The Government through the Ministry for Land, Resettlement and Rehabilitation is in the process of developing strategies to ensure that some large pieces of land that were previously neglected in communal areas are developed to create conducive living conditions and reduce poverty among the rural population.
Regional Framework/External Environment
As regards external affairs and regional cooperation :
* Namibia is an active member of the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC), the Southern Africa Customs Union (SACU) and of the African Union.
* The stabilisation of the conflict in the DRC and the end of war in Angola have affected positively stability in the country and eased tensions along the Angolan border.
* The issue of «Conflict Diamonds and the Kimberley process» is of great importance for this country. Indeed, ending the trade in conflict diamonds is essential for countries such as Namibia which produce clean diamonds and rely heavily on the revenue generated for their sustainable development.
Relations with the EU
Politically, EU relations with Namibia can be generally considered as good.
The EC and EU Member States are, by far, Namibia’s most important co-operation partners, with total planned aid disbursements for 2003 of more than 70 Mio € (of which 20 Mio € from the EC).
Under the European Development Funds (EDF) 7,8 and 9 total aid resources made available to Namibia amount to € 193 million.
Namibia also benefited and will most likely continue to benefit substantially from a number of other main co-operation instruments (e.g. SYSMIN, EIB managed resources, EC Budget Lines, Beef Protocol).
The new (9 th EDF) Country Strategy Paper and National Indicative Programme was signed on 7 th June 2002 , with a global allocation of 91 Mio € from the 9 th EDF. Preparations to commit these funds are well under way. EC’s primary focus under the 9 th EDF shall be Rural Development (including land reform) and Human Resources Development. (EC support of 21 Mio € to the “Namibia Education Sector Programme” (2003-2007) was already approved in July 2003).
The Gini-coefficient measures income inequality, a value of zero indicates absolute equality and a value of
1 absolute inequality.
Ranked 28 th globally, with a Corruption Perception Index of 5.7 – Transparency International (2002).
The PSC is constituted by the Permanent Secretaries of the MLRR, MAWRD, MET, MOF, OAG, MME and the NPC.
Country Strategy Top of page
The strategy for co-operation has been jointly defined on the basis of the following criteria:
* Response to the medium term challenges
* Clear complementarity with other donors and with EU Member States in particular
* Relevance to poverty reduction and employment creation
* Convergence with key priorities under NDP2
* Existence of a structured sector policy dialogue and sufficient capacity within the relevant line
* Ministries
* Lessons derived from past experience as reflected in mid-term reviews and evaluations
* Potential spill-over of support to the regional level in particular in the context of the EPA.
* EC and NAO capacity to manage and monitor programmes.
* Potential capacity of NSAs to participate in the areas of cooperation
Taking into account these aspects, the fundamental priority of EU-Namibia co-operation will be support to rural development. The rural development clearly extends well beyond agriculture and takes into account relevant economic and social sectors which have a bearing on rural areas. Directly linked to this approach, the Community’s second focal area will be sustaining Human Resources Development.
HIV-AIDS will be addressed through both focal sectors as the main cross cutting issue. These sectors of support have also been identified in the Country Strategy Evaluation (CSE) as areas in which EC assistance has performed better and where there is a strong case for continued support. Together with interested EU Member States, the EC and GRN have launched two ongoing studies for a Rural Development Strategic Framework (RDSF) and for a SWAP (Sector Wide Approach) in education and training.
Crosscutting and complementary issues to the focal sectors are related to trade and regional integration and the enhancement of institutional capacities of GRN. 9 th EDF resources for the 2001-7 horizon are in line with 7 th and 8 th EDF support, though there has been an attempt to enhance the focus of EC aid by limiting core support to two sectors and limited support to complementary issues.
Priorities for co-operation Top of page
Rural Development Strategy
In order to contribute to poverty reduction, the EC’s primary focus under the 9 th EDF shall be rural development. The key considerations for this choice are that:
* Poverty in Namibia is primarily a rural phenomenon with 85% of consumption-poor households located in rural areas.
* Decentralisation and land reform are central challenges for rural development and Government requires donor assistance to implement the necessary reforms.
* Previous successful EC support has been focused on the rural areas and there are opportunities to extend and build on this support. Since Namibia ’s independence the EC has been the largest donor providing support to the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Rural Development and in the context of the rural development strategic framework is the lead donor in the policy dialogue.
* The Namibia-EC Rural Development Strategic Framework focuses on rural livelihoods and while the development of agriculture is emphasised, the wider range of rural income opportunities will be addressed, streamlining the national policies of NDP2 and catalysing donor support in an integrated framework. This includes supporting economic diversification, new income generating capacities and SME development.
* There is complementarity with the priorities of the NPRAP for the development and diversification of the agricultural sector towards other areas. It takes into account of the need to treat the land issue in the context of the wider rural development constraints.
* The rural development response strategy will be complementary to the activities identified by other donors including support to the land issue. The EC will associate relevant donors in the design of its support programme and its implementation.
The key requirements to foster rural livelihoods include improvement of productive and rural social services, economic diversification of poor rural households, the land issue and support to the decentralisation process in rural areas.
Land will be a central issue to social-economic development because of the rural base of the majority of households. The issue will be addressed as a critical determinant for the ability of the poor to accumulate assets, sustainable resource use, land agricultural productivity, financing of local government and the development of financial markets.
Non-state actors such as the private sector, trade unions, NGOs and CBOs may provide value added in the rural development focal sector, especially where governmental structures are not represented or only weakly present.
It will be essential to mitigate the impact of HIV/AIDS on rural livelihoods since death and migration will reduce the total population in rural areas. The knock-on effects in terms of a reduced labour force, increased household expenditure on health and a consequent higher dependency ratio will have to be taken into account.
Human Resource Development Response Strategy
The choice of support to Human Resources Development is based on the following considerations: Since the Transitional National Development Plan and in subsequent development plans (NDP 1 and 2) education has been stressed as central to Namibia ’s economic development. Poverty reduction, employability, the strengthening of the democratic process and greater equity in income distribution remain a major rationale for investment in education.
* The movement towards a Sector Wide Approach is motivated by the conviction that it would provide greater and more sustainable benefits. The SWAP should support the development of services, which are responsive to the need of the poor.
* This sector offers the best opportunities for sector support. A strategic plan 2001-2006 is in place for basic education and a MTEF has been established during 2001. The EC can benefit from lessons learnt from the ongoing sector programme of Sida , UK and the Netherlands .
* The EC is the main donor working with both Ministries of education and is playing a key role in emphasising the need to move towards a SWAP. With GRN and other interested donors (Sida, DFID, Netherlands ) the EC is launching a study which should provide an overall framework for donors to jointly support the sector. The leverage of EC aid could catalyse support from other EU donors who were planning to phase out.
* The EC is the lead donor regarding the Ministry of Higher Education, Employment Creation and Technology and one of the main donors with regard to basic education. The expected withdrawal of three significant donors from basic education (the Netherlands , the United Kingdom and USAID) increases the relative importance of EC sector assistance and reinforces the justification for continued assistance. EC and Sida shall be the lead donors in the SWAP.
* The Ministry’s Basic Education’s Strategic Planning Advisory Group (SPAG) where the key donors and relevant Ministries ensure sector co-ordination is the most effective Government led co-ordination process in Namibia .
* There has been positive experience with previous EC assistance in education and training as evidenced by the 2001 Mid-term review of the ongoing programme. The challenge will be to move from a ‘project approach’ to a SWAP.
The SWAP will consider the entire sector (pre-primary, primary/basic, secondary, tertiary, technical and vocational training) and its necessary interaction with the private sector. It should take into account the issues of accessibility (access, enrolment and equality of opportunity, especially gender issues), effectiveness (quality plus relevance), efficiency (results in relation to inputs), financial and institutional sustainability. The Community will support priorities within an overall sector framework as set out in such Government policy intentions as the Strategic Plan 2001-6 and the future Namibian Training Authority. Targeted budgetary support under the conditions of Article 61.3 of the Cotonou Agreement will be considered wherever possible.
SWAP will take into account key crosscutting issues such as the impact of HIV-AIDS on learner and teachers, the role and linkages with the private sector and other NSAs (University, Vocational Training Centres, Community Skills Development Centres etc.), girls education (access, retention and enrolment) and the decentralisation of the education system. In the perspective of a growing convergence of education and training, vocational training and skills development are a central part of core cross-sectoral strategies for pro-poor growth rather than a sub-sectoral activity, particularly in the light of broader economic trends. The SWAP process should involve all social partners at all levels of the system. |
