Namibia Appeal No. 05AA013 Programme Update No. 2
EmailIn Brief
Appeal No. 05AA013; Programme Update no. 2, Period covered: July to November 2005; Appeal coverage: 65%; Outstanding needs: CHF 319,539 (USD 243,551 or EUR 206,487).
Click here to go directly to the attached Contributions List, also available on the website.
Appeal target: CHF 912,850 (USD 725,100 or EUR 588,000).
Programme Update no. 1 dated 18 July 2005- http://www.ifrc.org/docs/appeals/annual05/05AA01301.pdf
Related Emergency Appeal: http://www.ifrc.org/cgi/pdf=5Fappeals.pl?05/05EA023.pdf Southern Africa: Food Insecurity; Appeal no. 05EA023
Programme summary:
The Namibia Red Cross delivers health and care services through an integrated HIV/AIDS programme. During the reporting period, the national society- with support of the Global Fund for AIDS, TB and Malaria (GFATM)- established nine new home-based care (HBC) projects in Opuwo, Khorixas and Outjo district of Kunene and Rundu, Andara and Nankudu districts of Kavango region, while the Khomas region project was expanded to four new districts namely Otjomuise, Kabila, Havana and Okuryangava.
The Regional Disaster Response Training (RDRT) was hosted in Namibia attended by staff from the ten regional national societies, a disaster management staff from Dakar Federation regional delegation and Namibia government officials. Namibia Red Cross is benefiting from the DFID supported disaster risk reduction programme, targeted at the San community.
Namibia is severely affected by the drought in the northern parts of the country. The Federation launched Emergency Appeal no. 05EA023 in October 2005 for seven countries, including Namibia. Through a coordinated operation with Namibia Red Cross as the implementing partner, the Federation regional delegation appealed to support a total of 45,000 people with food assistance and livelihood approaches.
The national society's Annual General Meeting (AGM) was successfully conducted on 26 November 2005 and a new president and governing board were elected. The Namibia Red Cross received the Federation Capacity Building Fund (CBF) for its organizational development programmes.
Operational developments
Namibia is the most arid country in sub-Saharan Africa with 80% of its land classified as arid and 20% as semi-arid. This makes the country prone to recurrent droughts and food deficits. Maize is imported to supplement local production, and lack of adequate natural fresh water resources also exacerbates food production and increases vulnerability among communities. Parents of about 30% of all children are unable to provide nutritious food of adequate quality and quantity with a third of the population classified as undernourished and highly vulnerable.
The population is approximately two million and Namibia has the fifth highest HIV/AIDS prevalence rate in the world, which is the biggest cause of death and hospitalization. During the reporting period, HBC activities included community-based health and care education, the provision of palliative care for terminally ill at household level, psychosocial support and counselling to people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) and orphans and other children made vulnerable by HIV/AIDS (OVC); treatment adherence counselling for the HBC clients on antiretroviral therapy (ART) and tuberculosis- direct observation therapy strategy (DOTS). The ART and voluntary counselling and testing (VCT) are provided by the government and Namibia Red Cross is playing a vital role in encouraging HBC clients to take up and adhere to treatment protocol. HBC activities are implemented in six regions, Ohangwena, Khomas, Caprivi, Otjozondjupa, Kunene and Kavango.
Despite the high per capita income, extreme poverty and food insecurity is prevalent in certain pockets of the country, such as in the Caprivi region. Production of winter wheat is estimated at 10,500 MT, down by 1,000 MT from the previous year due to erratic rain patterns. To date, only 27,000 MT of the projected national cereal deficit of 145,000 MT have been imported, mostly from neighbouring country - South Africa. There has been little rain over most part of the country as of mid-November and planting of the main season cereals, maize, sorghum and millet, which takes place typically only in the northern strip of the country has been delayed.
On 18 October 2005, the Federation regional delegation launched Emergency Appeal no. 05EA023 to assist 1.5 million affected people in Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe. This nine month operation aims to support the vulnerable population with targeted food distribution and building their capacities to enhance livelihood through community-based activities conducted by the Red Cross national societies. The operation also reflects the Federation commitment to move from relief assistance into longer-term sustainable programming. However, donor response to the Emergency Appeal has been slow which is limiting the initial phase of the operation, despite the need to scale up the assistance to the affected people.
A Federation regional delegation coordinated the British government's Department for International Development (DFID) Disaster Risk Reduction Phase II planning and review meeting held from 26 to 28 September 2005 in Windhoek, Namibia. The main agenda was to review disaster risk reduction proposals from Southern Africa (Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia and Zambia) and South Asia region benefiting from the programme. The main outputs of the review process included defining a plan of action for the disaster risk reduction Phase II programme. Regional disaster management unit staff, representatives from DFID, the British Red Cross, the Federation Delhi regional delegation and Geneva Secretariat attended the planning meeting.
The 2005 Regional Disaster Response Team training (RDRT) was held in Namibia from 18 to 30 September 2005 with 38 participants from the ten national societies, Federation regional delegation, government of Namibia and a participant from the Dakar regional delegation. Facilitators for the training were all mobilized from southern Africa regional sources.
With support from the Federation Capacity Building Fund, Namibia Red Cross embarked on the improvement of governance structures from headquarters to village level, strengthening operating systems and human resource capacity building. The national society also focused on reviewing the Constitution, strategic development plan, developing volunteer, youth, human resource policies which will be finalized in 2006.
The Federation regional delegation provided technical support and guidance to facilitate the Annual General Assembly held on 26 November. The new governing board and president were elected and will receive further governance support in understanding their roles and responsibilities.
For further information specifically related to this operation please contact:
In Namibia: Razia Essack-Kauaria, Secretary General, Namibia Red Cross, Windhoek; Email: secgen@redcross.org.na; Phone +264.61. 23.52.16; Fax +264.61.22.89.49
In Zimbabwe: Françoise Le Goff, Head of Southern Africa Regional Delegation, Harare; Email: ifrczw02@ifrc.org; Phone: +263.4.70.61.55, +263.4.70.61.56; Fax: +263.4.70.87.84
In Geneva: Terry Carney, Federation Regional Officer for Southern Africa, Africa Dept., Geneva; Email: terry.carney@ifrc.org; Phone: +41.22.730.42.98, Fax: +41.22.733.03.97
This Programme Update reflects activities to be implemented over a one-year period. This forms part of, and is based on, longer-term, multi-year planning (refer below to access the detailed logframe documents). All International Federation assistance seeks to adhere to the Code of Conduct and is committed to the Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards in Disaster Response in delivering assistance to the most vulnerable. For support to or for further information concerning Federation programmes or operations in this or other countries, or for a full description of the national society profile, please access the Federation's website at http://www.ifrc.org
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