Namibia

Overview

This Weekly Bulletin focuses on public health emergencies occurring in the WHO African Region. The WHO Health Emergencies Programme is currently monitoring 67 events in the region. This week’s main articles cover key ongoing events, including:

Heavy rainfall triggers flooding in Rwanda, Burundi, and Tanzania while parts of Southern Africa remain dry

Africa Weather Hazards

1. Parts of Lake Victoria, Rwanda, Burundi and the southern Kenya will remain under flash flood risk into next week.

2. Desert Locust breeding is expected to extend from Afar region of Ethiopia northward into Djibouti and Eritrea, and northern parts of Kenya.

This Weekly Bulletin focuses on public health emergencies occurring in the WHO African Region. The WHO Health Emergencies Programme is currently monitoring 67 events in the region. This week’s main articles cover key ongoing events, including:

• Malaria in Burundi
  
• Ebola virus disease in Democratic Republic of the Congo
  
• Humanitarian crisis in Nigeria.

For each of these events, a brief description, followed by public health measures implemented and an interpretation of the situation is provided.

Famine threatens South Sudan, Yemen, and northeast Nigeria

Across 46 countries, 88 million people require emergency food assistance in 2020, 87% more than in 2015.

Non Communicable Diseases (NCDs) exerts a growing burden on mortality and morbidity in Namibia. They account for an estimated 43% of total deaths in the country. As part of efforts to reduce this growing burden, the Ministry of Health and Social Services with support from WHO is strengthening the health system to ensure that comprehensive services for prevention and control of NCDs are decentralized to peripheral health facilities.

The 3rd Generation Country Cooperation Strategy (CCS III) outlines the strategic agenda of the World Health Organization in Namibia over a period of five years 2018-2023. Aligned to the 13th General Programme of Work, the CCS III takes the health and development context of the country into consideration. It focuses on three interconnected strategic priorities to ensure healthy lives and well- being for all people at all ages and a fourth priority to enable WHO to fulfil its mandate.

Highlights

• Early season rainfall has been erratic in southern and central parts of the region, despite a timely onset of the season. This has negatively impacted on crop germination in some areas.

• Favourable rainfall conducive to crop development was received in some northern parts of the region.

• Heavy rains and a cyclone caused flooding in parts of Tanzania and Madagascar respectively.

This Weekly Bulletin focuses on public health emergencies occurring in the WHO African Region. The WHO Health Emergencies Programme is currently monitoring 69 events in the region. This week’s main articles cover key ongoing events, including:

• Monkeypox in Nigeria
• Ebola virus disease in Democratic Republic of the Congo
• Humanitarian crisis in Niger.

For each of these events, a brief description, followed by public health measures implemented and an interpretation of the situation is provided.

Introduction

School-related gender-based violence (SRGBV) refers to acts or threats of sexual, physical, or psychological violence occurring in and around schools, perpetrated as a result of gender norms and stereotypes and enforced by unequal power dynamics (see figure 1).

Executive summary

 Southern Africa did not recover from the widespread drought persisting since 2018 and throughout 2019. Instead, with a suboptimal start of the ongoing rainy season, the situation further worsened over wide areas of South Africa, Namibia, Angola, Zimbabwe, Zambia and Lesotho.

Flooding risks persist across eastern Africa, while South Africa remains drier-than-average

Africa Weather Hazards

1. Continued above-average rainfall has triggered flooding across eastern Africa. Rain is forecast to continue next week maintaining high flood risk.

2. Locust swarms continue to affect parts of Sudan, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Somalia, and Yemen. The chance of a lotus outbreak has increased in north and eastern areas.

Highlights

• Ongoing climate shocks across Africa, including drought in southern Africa have worsened food insecurity, malnutrition and communicable disease outbreaks across the region.

Albertina Nakale

WINDHOEK - The SADC secretariat has cautioned some of the member states, Namibia included, of the heavy rainfall forecast for this week, which is likely to result in localised floods.

SADC climate service centre is forecasting a likelihood of rainfall amounts exceeding 50mm in 24 hours in some parts of the southern region during the period of 11 to 17 December 2019.

This Weekly Bulletin focuses on public health emergencies occurring in the WHO African Region. The WHO Health Emergencies Programme is currently monitoring 66 events in the region. This week’s main articles cover key new and ongoing events, including:

• Yellow fever in Mali

• Ebola virus disease in Democratic Republic of the Congo

• Floods in Democratic Republic of the Congo

• Humanitarian crisis in Cameroon.

WINDHOEK - The Namibian government has made a U-turn to temporarily host at Osire refugee camp the desperate migrants who fled South Africa last month following a wave of xenophobic attacks.

This comes after New Era on Friday published an article that the Namibian government has turned away the desperate refugees because they are not recognised as asylum seekers.

Home Affairs Commissioner for Refugees Likius Valombola told New Era on Thursday that the 42 foreign nationals were being deported back to South Africa.

2018/19 severe drought and current below-average forecast to drive significant assistance needs in 2020

ALBERTINA NAKALE

WINDHOEK - The Namibian government has turned desperate immigrants, who fled South Africa last month following a recent wave of xenophobic attacks, away because they are not recognised as asylum seekers. Home Affairs Commissioner for Refugees Likius Valombola told New Era yesterday that the 42 foreign nationals were being deported back to South Africa.

A screening process is underway at Noordoewer to deport them. He added that 11 had already returned to South Africa and have since been integrated into the community.

Suzanne Carter of CDKN reflects on how Vulnerability Risk Assessment (VRA) training in Namibia aims to help decision makers better understand how climate change and social vulnerabilities intersect, and plan effective community adaptation interventions.

Tropical Cyclone Belna causes flooding in Madagascar, while heavy rain and flooding persist in East Africa

1. Continued above-average rainfall has triggered flooding across eastern Africa. Heavy rain is forecast to continue next week maintaining high flood risk.

2. Locust swarms continue to affect parts of Sudan, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Somalia, and Yemen. The chance of a lotus outbreak has increased in north and eastern areas.