Due to resource constraints, IRIN is not updating the country profile below.Namibia country page on ReliefWeb [http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/dbc.nsf/doc104?OpenForm&rc;=1&cc;=nam ].
NAMIBIA
Last update: March 2007
SADC ) contingent supporting the Kinshasa government against Rwandan- and Ugandan-backed rebels. In August 1999, a secessionist attempt by a few dozen armed people in the northeastern Caprivi region was successfully quashed. The instigators and hundreds of sympathisers went into exile to Botswana, while 130 others were arrested for treason. The trial is ongoing. In December 1999, the NDF supported Angolan government forces in clearing southern Angola of UNITA rebels, which continued on a small scale until the death of UNITA leader Jonas Savimbi in 2002.refugees in the Osire refugee camp in central Namibia, with the largest contingent from Angola. Others came from the DRC, Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Burundi. Repatriation programmes have successfully been undertaken since Angola's peace agreement in 2002, with only 6,000 refugees left at Osire.government promoted a policy of national reconciliation and amnesty for those who had fought on either side during the liberation war. Multiparty democracy was introduced and has been maintained, with local, regional and national elections held regularly. Seven registered political parties are active and represented in the National Assembly. Transition from the 15-year rule of President Sam Nujoma to his successor, Hifikepunye Pohamba, in 2005 went smoothly. In the 2006 Transparency International Corruption Perception Index Namibia dropped from a previous position of 47 and is ranked at 55.MISA ), founded in 1992, is based in the capital, Windhoek. The media landscape is vibrant and includes small community radio stations. Although the government is often critical of the independent media, there has been no direct political interference. However, in December 2002 Nujoma imposed a government advertising ban on the leading private daily, The Namibian, which has not yet been lifted. land by 2020 to resettle 240,000 people on a redistribution programme waiting list. According to official figures, 1,560 families have been resettled on commercial farms and 4,352 families in communal areas - altogether 38,000 people - since 1996. An estimated 4,000 mostly white Namibians own 4,200 farms. About 800 farms have changed ownership to previously disadvantaged Namibians through preferential loans.Central Bureau of Statistics ). The population growth rate is 2.6 percent a year, according to the UN Population Fund (UNFPA ). About 70 percent live in rural areas and 30 percent are urban residents. Forty percent of the population are younger than 15. The fertility rate is 4.1 children per woman, with the under-five child mortality rate at 71 per 1,000. Maternal mortality is 300 per 100,000 live births, according to the 2004 UN Common Country Assessment.report noted that Namibia had made strides in providing health, education and other critical services. Preliminary results of a Namibia Household Income and Expenditure Survey in 2006 showed that households living in ‘severe poverty’ below $1 a day? - defined by the Namibian National Planning Commity as those spending 80 percent of their total income on food - had declined from 8.7 to 3.9 percent, a drop of almost 5 percent. According to the United Nations Human Development Report, Namibia's position in the 2004 Human Development Index was 125 out of 177 countries, but improved to 125 in 2005, retaining this position in 2006. UNICEF ) survey warned that the number of orphans and vulnerable children would double in the next 15 years, with HIV/AIDS, food insecurity and a weak social support network posing a triple threat that would more than double the number of vulnerable children younger than 15 from 120,000 to 250,000 by 2021. The agency found vulnerability so pervasive that only 26 percent of children lived with both parents. According to the UN World Food Programme (WFP ), 24 percent of Namibian children below the age of five are chronically malnourished, and 9 percent are acutely malnourished, despite the country being classified as middle-income.WHO ), an average of 676 TB cases were recorded for every 100,000 Namibians, putting the country at the top of the world ranking for the disease.HIV-positive , according to UNAIDS . The northeastern Caprivi region has the highest HIV prevalence rate at 43 percent, according to a 2004 sentinel survey. A free antiretroviral treatment (ART) programme was rolled out at government hospitals in 2004 and now 30,000 of the 67,500 in need are receiving ART, according to 2006 government figures . Namibia Economic Policy Research Unit report. Drought and floods were experienced in 2002 and 2003. As a result, 600,000 Namibians, one-third of the population, were identified as being in need of humanitarian assistance in 2003. According to the World Food Programme , Namibia is normally vulnerable to drought but 2006’s heavy rains improved the country’s overall food security. Twenty-four percent of children under five are underweight and of short stature, and nine percent are wasted. NSHR ), which has observer status at the UN Economic and Social Council, issues an annual human rights report. After the unsuccessful 1999 secessionist attempt in the Caprivi region, several suspects were tortured by police and the army. UNDP .
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Namibia in figures
· Population: 1.84 MillionSource: UNDP
Basic facts
Capital: WindhoekLanguage: English is the official language, but Bantu languages, Khoisan, German and Afrikaans are also spoken.Ethnic groups: The Ovambo make up almost half of the population (47 percent); other ethnic groups include the Kavango, Herero and Damara. There is also a European minority.Religions: Lutheran 51%, Catholic 20% Anglican 5% and many practice traditional African religionsGeography: Desert, mountains and bushveld.Border countries: Angola, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, South Africa Natural resources: Diamonds, copper, zinc, uranium, gold, gas, fish Agriculture products: beef, venison, maize, pearl millet, sorghum, karakul peltsSources: BBC , EIU , Reuters AlertNet
