Having spent five years prior to that in Eritrea, Namibia has been a very different experience.

The Namibian's LINDSAY DENTLINGER interviewed him last week to assess Namibia's progress in making the country a better place to live for its citizens.

OVERCOMING inequality in Namibia is probably the overarching drive of the United Nations' work in this country.

In the new year, the world body is looking forward to two main things: getting to work on the new five-year United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF), which was launched in September, and operating from its own headquarters, currently under construction.

Government has pledged N$47 million to the building of the N$70-million complex in Klein Windhoek.

UN figures indicate that Namibia is the country with the biggest income disparity of any country in the world with a Gini coefficient of 0,7.

(The Gini coefficient measures income disparities with zero indicating perfect equality.

In rich countries, the figure is usually around 0,3).

UN Resident Co-ordinator in Namibia Simon Nhongo sees turning this situation around as a major challenge for the UN.

Despite critics disputing the reliability of the statistics that made the UN arrive at this finding, Nhongo says realities on the ground support the statistics.

"When you look at the reality of life, the quality of life and infrastructure in the central areas compared to the poorest areas in the north and north-east, and compare the most developed parts with the least developed areas, you can see the severity of the income disparity," said Nhongo.

"It is quite significant that only around 20 000 probably get the bulk of the national income compared to the rest of the population".

Namibia's 7 000 most wealthy people spend as much as the remaining 800 000 do collectively.

Contributing to increasing levels of poverty and inequality are the devastating impacts of HIV-AIDS.

"If people lose their lives, many services in Government have suffered because they have lost their most capable and able employees," noted Nhongo.

Despite research indicating that the incidence of HIV-AIDS among pregnant women has decreased in recent years, Nhongo said this statistic could not necessarily be applied to other groups within the population.

The HIV-AIDS pandemic is for Namibia "still an uphill battle", according to Nhongo, and there is not enough evidence to suggest that the country is succeeding in bringing down the prevalence.

Only if Namibia is able to sustain livelihoods and bring about food security can the country begin to narrow the income gap.

Government will also need to improve public service delivery, especially in health and education, if it is to enhance the quality of life of the poorest of the population.

"If delivery is improved, it will also make an impact on narrowing the income gap," said Nhongo.

MAKING A DIFFERENCE Nhongo, a native Zimbabwean, came to Namibia a year ago, taking over the reins from Jacqui Badcock.

He has been with the United Nations for 28 years.

Nhongo will see Badcock's dream realised: for the UN to have its own property in Namibia.

In all the years it has worked in Namibia, the UN has rented office space in the Sanlam building in Windhoek.

Now all the money spent on rent can be put towards development assistance in Namibia, said Nhongo.

"It will bring us all under one group and it will be easier to interact if we are all in one building.

It will give us a sense of identity of the UN and security-wise, we will feel secure," said Nhongo.

During his first year in Namibia, Nhongo is pleased that the UN has been able to build a cohesive team who can collaborate more effectively with Government.

The launch of the second UNDAF plan is testimony to this.

It seeks to guide the integration of programming among UN agencies in Namibia to support Government and civil society to reach Namibia's economic and social development goals outlined in Vision 2030, the Millennium Development Goals and NDP II.

It provides the framework for the UN system to respond effectively to national development priorities and objectives.

The first UNDAF covered the period 2001-2005.

The second UNDAF will extend to 2010 and will focus in particular on addressing developmental challenges related to the increased vulnerability of households and the erosion of institutional capacity caused by the impact of HIV-AIDS.

By 2010, the UN hopes to have strengthened the country's response to HIV-AIDS through prevention, treatment, care and impact mitigation especially for vulnerable groups; improved livelihoods and food security, and strengthening the capacity to deliver and monitor essential and critical health, education and special protection services.

It is estimated that US$44,7 million will be required to achieve these outcomes.

MDG PERFORMANCE After the first five-year review of Namibia's ability to attain the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015, Nhongo says Namibia can be commended for progress in three of these areas: universal primary education, the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women, and improved environmental sustainability.

But unfortunately, performance in other areas has been mixed.

Extreme poverty still prevails, while data on improving maternal health and child mortality has not been sufficient to accurately determine where the country is heading.

Fighting the HIV-AIDS pandemic will also require much more effort.

The magnitude of work that will still have to go into attaining the MDGs and the extreme poverty in Namibia still qualifies it for more development assistance.

Although obtaining more assistance from the developed world is one of the MDGs, the reality is that foreign aid to Namibia is on the decline.

"Government is making a very spirited campaign," said Nhongo on efforts to appeal for aid.

"Namibia deserves more assistance and could get more resources.

It doesn't mean it will deprive worse-off countries."

Nhongo said the developed world had to be challenged more to help the developing world than it does currently.

He said 48 hours of collective expenditure by better-off countries spent on arms and war would be sufficient to finance most of the needs of the developing countries.

"There has been less than a full-hearted effort on the part of our development partners [to assist the developing world].

There is a lot of room for improvement."

He warned, however, that it was not easy to maintain good performance and the tendency to become complacent was always there.

But as long as certain levels of investment into attaining these goals are sustained, Nhongo says Namibia can remain on track.

THE ROAD AHEAD Despite the myriad of problems that need attention, Namibia also has a lot going for it, said Nhongo.

He singled out a good investment climate, peace and security and fairly comfortable living conditions for those who could afford it.

Nhongo also had praise for Namibia's handling of land reform, saying although it was not the only or main way to reduce income inequality, it could have an effect.

He said it was well known that subsistence farmers were struggling and were nowhere near as successful as commercial farmers, but people had to be given an opportunity to make a living from the land.

"Land reform has to be done very judiciously.

The way it is being addressed in Namibia is judicious," said Nhongo.

Nhongo said land should not just be taken from those who had it, but where it could be shown that it was excessive and more than needed to sustain the owner comfortably, Government could fairly compensate for that land to be given to the landless.

"I don't think it can be done better than that.

Expropriation is part of the constitution.

Everything is being done in a legal manner and in the national interest, which is very important," said Nhongo.

"If not properly addressed, you run the risk of land reform being used for political purposes and it can get out of control".

Next year should definitely be a year for improving service delivery, especially health, water, sanitation and education needs, said Nhongo.

Although the country has been focusing on these needs, the success of their efforts remains to be seen and felt, said Nhongo.

"As the first year of the implementation of UNDAF, we look forward to collaborating with Government and we stand ready to assist Government in improving the lives of ordinary Namibians", said Nhongo.

From an external perspective, the country is seen to be doing a lot and Government's commitment to improving the lives of ordinary Namibians is impressive, says Nhongo.

"There is capacity, it just needs to be applied correctly," he adds.

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