Staff Reporter
THE United Nations (UN) in Namibia is exploring strategies to strengthen collaboration with the government in order to optimize the country’s limited resources and achieve both the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Namibia’s national objectives.
This was disclosed by Hopolang Phororo, the UN’s Resident Coordinator in Namibia, following a recent courtesy meeting with President Hage Geingob. The Namibian Presidency revealed that the meeting focused on coordinating and implementing priority areas outlined in the SDGs and the Second Harambee Prosperity Plan (HPP II) to support Namibia’s developmental agenda.
Phororo confirmed this, expressing her intention to assist the government in attaining global and domestic goals. She explained that although Namibia is classified as an upper-middle-income country, it faces limitations in terms of resources. Consequently, the UN is exploring ways to maximize the country’s limited resources to address issues related to education, healthcare, social protection, gender-based violence (GBV), climate change, and good governance.
Phororo also highlighted the importance of empowering young people and preparing women for participation in discussions, particularly as elections approach.
Phororo’s meeting with President Geingob followed a previous courtesy meeting with Vice President Nangolo Mbumba. Similar ideas were discussed during the meeting with the Vice President, during which she also commended President Geingob for his efforts in promoting the country’s development.
In addition to pursuing Namibia’s Green Hydrogen ambitions, Phororo emphasized President Geingob’s interest in positioning Namibia as a pathfinding country for the Global Accelerator on Jobs and Social Protection for Just Transitions—an initiative launched by the UN Secretary-General in 2021, aiming to expedite actions for a job-rich recovery and sustainable and inclusive transitions.
Phororo also reminded the Vice President about the upcoming Sustainable Development Summit scheduled for September in New York. She underscored that UN member states, including Namibia, are significantly lagging in achieving the SDGs. The Vice President acknowledged this, explaining that global leadership is preoccupied with restoring peace due to persistent conflicts worldwide, which has impeded progress towards the SDGs.
“I think that’s also the reason why SDGs are falling behind. They have to fall behind because the attention, the resources, the time is spent on other issues, but in your capacity as the Resident Coordinator, we still really rely on support in terms of advice, in terms of expertise, in terms of sharing what is working and what is not working,” Vice President Mbumba remarked.
The UN Resident Coordinator agreed with this explanation but stressed that there is still hope for the world to achieve the UN’s outlined SDGs.
“This is where we are. But, I guess the bottom line is that we don’t lose hope. The hope is there for us to still move forward,” she said.
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