Namibia wants more development aid

FOREIGN Minister Marco Hausiku has urged the international community to provide more development aid to Namibia so that it can overcome inequality, eradicate poverty and improve health services.

Speaking at the UN General Assembly in New York on Wednesday, Minister Hausiku said Namibia was classified as a lower-middle-income country. “However, my country ranks number 126 out of 177 countries on the United Nations Human Development Index (HDI), as it still bears the legacy of the social and economic inequalities inherited from its colonial past.Inequality in the distribution of income and assets in Namibia is among the highest in the world,” Hausiku added.Despite that, Namibia had made progress in the provision of health, education and other critical services for the majority of the population.”We face severe difficulty in responding to the combination of the devastating HIV-AIDS pandemic, high levels of food insecurity, and poverty at household levels.”This situation was compounded by the declining international aid to Namibia due to its classification as lower-middle-income country, Hausiku said.”However, my country ranks number 126 out of 177 countries on the United Nations Human Development Index (HDI), as it still bears the legacy of the social and economic inequalities inherited from its colonial past.Inequality in the distribution of income and assets in Namibia is among the highest in the world,” Hausiku added.Despite that, Namibia had made progress in the provision of health, education and other critical services for the majority of the population.”We face severe difficulty in responding to the combination of the devastating HIV-AIDS pandemic, high levels of food insecurity, and poverty at household levels.”This situation was compounded by the declining international aid to Namibia due to its classification as lower-middle-income country, Hausiku said.