25 000 Namibians affected by natural disasters in 2004

THE 2005 World Disaster Report was launched by the International Red Cross last week in the aftermath of such natural disasters as Hurricane Katrina in North America and the Indian Ocean Tsunami.

In Namibia, the report shows, 25 000 people were affected by natural disasters last year, although it does not specify how many died. Namibian Minister of Information and Broadcasting Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah launched the report in Windhoek on Wednesday, saying that last year’s Caprivi floods were still fresh in the minds of Namibians.The 2005 report – the 13th published by the humanitarian organisation – focuses on the role of information in disasters.The Red Cross says the report “underlines the importance of recognising information as a form of disaster response in its own right.”It said it was important not only to focus on disasters that make newspaper headlines, but to also communicate the urgency of neglected or forgotten crises to donors, the media, and to the wider public.”Far from the media spotlight,” said Razia Essack-Kauaria, Secretary General for the Namibia Red Cross Society, “numerous chronic crises silently steal lives and livelihoods”.She referred to Namibia’s San communities, who she said suffered from extreme poverty and food insecurity triggered by factors outside of their control.Essack-Kauaria added that, despite the efforts of many organisations against the growing threat of HIV-AIDS, the number of orphans and vulnerable children in Namibia was nevertheless on the rise.Communities, she said, were also becoming increasingly vulnerable due to deepening food insecurity related to recurrent droughts and poverty as well as a lack of safe water.”These are Namibian disasters,” she said, “but they seem so easily overshadowed by events such as in Darfur and Niger.”Nandi-Ndaitwah said the report would be useful in allowing Namibia to develop a programme informing Namibians how to behave in cases of disaster.She said the recent case of rotting food aid at Katima Mulilo showed that those responsible “have no full understanding of what it means to help those in need”.Namibian Minister of Information and Broadcasting Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah launched the report in Windhoek on Wednesday, saying that last year’s Caprivi floods were still fresh in the minds of Namibians.The 2005 report – the 13th published by the humanitarian organisation – focuses on the role of information in disasters.The Red Cross says the report “underlines the importance of recognising information as a form of disaster response in its own right.”It said it was important not only to focus on disasters that make newspaper headlines, but to also communicate the urgency of neglected or forgotten crises to donors, the media, and to the wider public. “Far from the media spotlight,” said Razia Essack-Kauaria, Secretary General for the Namibia Red Cross Society, “numerous chronic crises silently steal lives and livelihoods”.She referred to Namibia’s San communities, who she said suffered from extreme poverty and food insecurity triggered by factors outside of their control.Essack-Kauaria added that, despite the efforts of many organisations against the growing threat of HIV-AIDS, the number of orphans and vulnerable children in Namibia was nevertheless on the rise.Communities, she said, were also becoming increasingly vulnerable due to deepening food insecurity related to recurrent droughts and poverty as well as a lack of safe water.”These are Namibian disasters,” she said, “but they seem so easily overshadowed by events such as in Darfur and Niger.”Nandi-Ndaitwah said the report would be useful in allowing Namibia to develop a programme informing Namibians how to behave in cases of disaster.She said the recent case of rotting food aid at Katima Mulilo showed that those responsible “have no full understanding of what it means to help those in need”.