PROJECTS
EU Projects with Namibia
A significant amount of EU funding to Namibia is provided through general budget support. However, a large number of projects are still being implemented across a wide-range of sectors throughout the country in the form of grants and other contracts.
Agreement between the government of the Republic of Namibia and the Comission os the European communities on the establishment and on the privileges and inmunities of the Delegation of the Comission of the European communities
EU Support to Namibia towards Covid 19
- A Budget Support tranche of 8.4 million Euro to increase the Government’s fiscal space in its socio-economic response. The amount was re-allocated from un-disbursed tranches of the Education Budget Support which otherwise would have been lost for the country. It helped to purchase vital supplies and equipment in the health sector, including testing materials and protective equipment. It furthermore helped the Government to address the wider economic and social implications, and will provide for an impetus towards post-Covid economic recovery. A small amount of the tranche was also used by the Minister of Finance to receive support in post Covid-19 debt and expenditure management through technical assistance.
- A grant of 2 million Euro was mobilized from EDF resources via DG ECHO and is being implemented jointly by the World Food Programme and Unicef. It helps prevent and treat acute malnutrition by providing food assistance to Covid-19 and drought affected persons.
- A top-up up of an existing contract by EUR 350,000 now enables Unicef to provide help for children and their families in the communities hardest hit by the pandemic, including informal settlements in the suburbs of Windhoek.
The EU support was coordinated with and complemented support measures provided by other partners such as the United Nations, the United States and China. Both, the fast delivery of the support provided and the flexible implementing arrangements were highly appreciated by the Government, resulting also in a good coverage in the local media.
11th EDF National Programme
Early Childhood Development has gained a lot of momentum in Namibia in the last years, but it is still far from reflecting the status of Namibia as an upper-middle income country. There are still major challenges that need to be addressed. Hence, access to early childhood development and pre-primary education is still below the desired targets (with only 27% of children attending ECD programmes and pre-primary education enrolment standing at 31%). The EU and European partners have added value and can continue to have a real impact by complementing the Government of Namibia’s investment in early childhood education. More than ever, the scale of the problems brought forth by the pandemic also requires a substantial, global and coordinated response.
Agriculture / Livestock
In the Agricultural/Livestock sector, the EU has continued its cooperation with the Government of Namibia, through the continuation of the 20 million Euro Livestock Support Programme in the Northern Communal Areas of Namibia. This programme will improve existing infrastructure, reinforce technical capacities to improve quality and strengthen the livestock and meat based trade in the region. The Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry is implementing the programme, however the complexity of the programme has adversely influenced the speed of execution. Moreover, the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic also contributed to the delay. The project steering committees were unable to meet to take major decisions. Nonetheless, some positive results have been achieved. The implementation team succeeded to complete the infrastructure’s technical and economic feasibility studies and saw the approval of major disbursements on key result areas. The EU continued its positive dialogue with both government and the private sector operators to guarantee the ownership and the sustainability of the intervention.