She added that the affected are subjected to unsafe hygiene practices.
She was speaking at the commemoration of Health and Hygiene Promotion Month at Soweto Market in Windhoek.
Lachut added that 50% of residents of informal settlements have no access to toilets.
She said, over the last two years, the EU delegation in Namibia has financially supported a water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) project implemented by Development Workshop Namibia (DWN).
“The project is currently implemented at nine towns across Namibia. It has built more than 24 sanitation centres that provide demonstration toilets, hand-washing facilities and waste collection points,” she said.
She added that the initiative includes a child-specific component, with a focus on early childhood development centres. It educates children on safe sanitation practices such as hand washing, the hygienic handling of food and safe disposing of solid waste.
Meanwhile, Windhoek mayor Sade Gawanas said the biggest challenges in providing basic services to the residents are finance and human capital.
She said these challenges arose because the city has not grown at the same rate as the population within its boundaries, in terms of organisation capacity to be able to provide services.
“The population of Windhoek has grown to such an extent that the city needs its stakeholders and partners and the government to come on board to tackle these issues head-on in terms of provision of basic services to all residents,” she said.
She added that the city is trying to ensure that its residents, especially in informal settlements, have access to water.
“There are certain areas people have settled where the city cannot provide the basic services of water and electricity and sanitation, therefore, there are plans that they get communal taps,” she said.
Speaking at the same event, United Nations International Children’s Fund (Unicef) deputy representative Gregor Medeazza said the 2021 Namibia Multidimensional Poverty Report revealed that sanitation is the second largest indicator, after transportation, contributing to multidimensional poverty at around 69% for the total population, and about 73% among children.
“With the country still battling widespread open defecation, today presents an opportunity for us to rethink and design, test, and replicate creative ways to encourage people to wash their hands with soap at critical times,” he said.
