Faced with the 'triple threat' of HIV-AIDS, food insecurity and the weakening capacity of social and economic services, too many children do not have the nurturing environment essential for human development.

"The elements of the triple threat, together with other cross-cutting issues, interact to rob Namibian children of their well-being and security and ultimately of their lives," says a Namibian supplement to the United Nations State of the World's Children Report 2006, released in Windhoek yesterday.

Namibia has been rated slow to respond to eight of the UN millennium development goals (MDGs) as it affects the lives of children, while the situation was worsening in two areas - combating HIV-AIDS, malaria and other diseases and ensuring food security for the country's children.

Because most of them do not have access to social support structures, they, like the rest of the world's children, are "excluded and invisible" - the theme of this year's world report.

"The increased vulnerability due to the HIV-AIDS disease compounded with situations of marginalisation of some communities like the San, violence and abuse of girls and women are some of the most immediate and serious threats in terms of exclusion of children in Namibia," said Unicef's Acting Representative in Namibia, Rushnan Murtaza, at the launch of the reports.

But Murtaza believes that by constantly working towards the MDGs and monitoring the progress, the lives of children can be improved over the next decade.

Currently, the only goals that Namibia is on track to reach by in 2015 are achieving universal primary education and improving maternal health.

Since Independence, more children have enrolled in primary school and fewer have dropped out.

Namibia's target for 2006, is to achieve a 95 per cent enrolment rate.

In 2003, it stood at 94 per cent - up from 75 per cent in 1992.

But child nutrition remains a serious problem, and at least 24 per cent of children under five are moderately or severely malnourished.

"Extreme poverty in Namibia will worsen with the AIDS pandemic, as sick people become unable to work.

When drought, food insecurity and AIDS tip the scale from malnutrition to severe deprivation, it is children who will suffer the most," says the Namibian supplement to the world report.

Namibia will also have to reduce child mortality to 36 per cent in 2006, to get itself on track to meeting this millennium goal.

The main causes of death for children under five are AIDS, diarrhoea, malaria, pneumonia and malnutrition.

As the leading cause of death in Namibia since 1996, the country is faced with growing numbers of orphans.

It is estimated that 24 000 Namibians would have died from AIDS-related illnesses during 2005.

Children's health is also adversely affected by the lack of access to safe drinking water, sanitation and food insecurity, because Namibia has been slow to ensure environmental sustainability.

Gender-based violence suffered by women and girls and the general low status of women in Namibian society has retarded progress in promoting gender equality and empowering women.

International support is essential to overcoming the triple threat, but Namibia's classification as a lower middle-income country has meant increasingly less developmental assistance for essential maternal and child health, special protection and poverty reduction.

Minister of Gender Equality and Child Welfare Marlene Mungunda acknowledged that a lot still needed to be done, especially to ensure the livelihood of orphans.

"If we as citizens do not collectively fight the HIV-AIDS pandemic, our national resources in trying to assist and render services to all OVCs will be depleted.

We cannot continue to just produce reports and receive reports.

The time to act was yesterday," said Mungunda.

Mungunda said her Ministry was committed to going out in to the regions to register orphans who qualify for grants and refer the vulnerable groups to social workers for foster placements.

Currently the number of OVCs benefiting from maintenance and foster parent grants stands at 37 717 compared to 9739 in 2003.

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