The recently launched 2nd Millennium Development Goals Report/Namibia shows Namibia has made progress in achieving some of the targets set for five of the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) but more work needs to be done if the goals are to be achieved by 2015.

Infant mortality deaths have dropped from 57 per 1 000 live birth in 1993 to 49 per 1 000 live births currently, but with the target put at 38 deaths per 1 000 live births by 2012, the country is unlikely to achieve the goal (goal number 4: reduce child mortality).

The country is also unlikely to meet the under five mortality rate target of 45 deaths per 1 000 live births. Currently 69 deaths per 1 000 live births are reported.

Infant mortality and under five mortality, which are under the reduce child mortality goal have increased because of HIV/AIDS and under nutrition, while maternal deaths have almost doubled from 225 deaths per 100 000 live births in 1993 to 449 deaths per 100 000 live births to date. The target for 2012 is 337 deaths per 100 000 live births.

Acting United Nations Resident Coordinator Joyce Mends-Cole said Namibia, like other African countries, was not insulated from the adverse effects of the current financial crisis and indications are that the dramatically declining commodity process is negatively affecting the country’s economy, which is in turn reducing growth, incomes and employment.

“This will directly affect our efforts of achieving Goal Number One (eradicate extreme hunger and poverty) with a cascading effect to other goals. In comparison with past performance, the poor unemployment picture suggests that the rate of progress will even be slower,” she said.

Mends-Cole congratulated the Government on the targets that have been achieved but urged the country to prioritize the targets where progress is slow and where it is likely that the targets may not be achieved at the current rate.

Please click here to download the Executive Summary of the recently launched 2nd Millennium Development Goals Report l Namibia 2008.

Illegal drug abuse is at an all-time high in Namibia, Health and Social Services Minister Richard Kamwi, warned speaking at a press conference held on 23 June 2009. He said Namibia can not allow itself to be turned into a drug consumer country and called on each and every Namibian to act as a whistle-blower against the sellers and abusers of illicit substances.

Speaking at a ceremony in Windhoek, the Health Minister cited media coverage earlier this year of a number of foreign suspects arrested and found in possession of cocaine, after flying to Namibia from Brazil, to underline what is happening. Approximately N$3 million worth of cocaine was seized by the Police’s Drug Law Enforcement Unit in those hauls. The minister applauded the Namibian Police Force on these arrests, saying drug abuse has come “under the spotlight” in Namibia. “But these uniformed men and women cannot do it alone. For them to succeed calls on all of us as Namibians to be whistle-blowers. Namibia should never be used as a route or dumping place for their illegal activities,” Kamwi said.

The UN Acting Resident Co-coordinator Joyce Mends-Cole shared the minister’s concerns. She underlined that drug abuse is threatening the developmental gains made since Independence. “No individual, family or community is safe where illicit drugs take control. Drugs may control the body and mind of individual consumers, the drug crop and drug cartels may control farmers and other producers of food crops, illicit trafficking and crime may control communities,” Mends-Cole said.

In commemoration of the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, two marches took place, one on 26 June 2009 and one on 27 June 2009 in Windhoek. The first march started at 8:00am on Friday at Tommy Jarman Funeral Services in Khomasdal. The march ended at David Bezuidenhout High School, where the group Teenagers against Drug Abuse (TADA) entertained the Namibian youth.

A number of radio talk shows were hosted by committee members to commemorate the day, and a few rehabilitated addicts shared their testimonies on the Tupoyeni TV Show.

The International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking was also observed in the Kavango region at Frans Dimbare Youth Centre on 26 June 2009 and in the Erongo Region, Swakopmund on 29 June 2009.

United Nations Information Centre (UNIC) in Windhoek celebrated the World Refugee day. The day had been observed on 20 June 2009 at the Osire settlement within the Otjiwarongo district under the theme, "real people,real needs."  The event was held to highlight the plight of refugees but also to demonstrate their contributions to cultural diversity around the Mrs. Penehupifo Pohamba , the First Lady, with Joyce Mends-Cole, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees at the event world. Joyce ends-Cole, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said that Namibia currently hosts about 8 000 refugees, most of them from Angola. About 6 600 of them lived at the Osire camp while the rest were spread around the country.

The first lady, Mrs. Penehupifo Pohamba delivered the keynote address at the commemoration of World Refugee Day, expressing her contentment of the healthcare provision, education, community services and food security of refugees in Namibia.  The following members of the Diplomatic Corp participated in the celebrations at Osire: Representative of European Union, Ms. Elizabeth Pape, High Commissioner of South Africa, Ms. E.G. Komane, High Commissioner of Nigeria, Prince Adegboyega Christopher Ariyo, and Ambassador of the United States of America, Denise Mathieu and the High Commissioner of Zambia, Ms.Mavis Lengalenga Muyunda.

Namibia's Environment and Tourism Minister Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah urged participants who attended the World Environment Day commemoration event in Oshakati to use water and electricity sparingly to make a contribution to saving the planet.

She advised young Namibians to take environmental matters more seriously and to consider pursuing careers in this area. “We need environmental lawyers, specialists in waste management, the list is long,” she told the gathering that was mainly attended by schoolchildren. The New York-based United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) says that a shortage of skilled people is hampering the implementation of environmental agreements in many developing countries.

The Minister also invited schools to visit her Ministry’s Environmental Education Centre at Okaukuejo in Etosha National Park.