01 July 2003

Windhoek, Namibia: Business leaders in Namibia met Thursday with government and United Nations representatives at a Private Sector Partnership Forum to seek backing for a capacity-building initiative promoting the objectives of the country’s Second National Development Plan (NDP2).

Participants discussed support from the private sector in recruiting 335 national UN Volunteers for the programme, which started in 2002.

“Volunteerism is a form of social behaviour deeply embedded in traditional social structures where the will to volunteer is one expression of social relationship by which people pursue their livelihoods and solve development problems,” said Immanuel Ngatjizeko, Director General of the National Planning Commission representing the Government.

“Failure to factor volunteerism into the design and implementation of national plans is tantamount to overlooking an extraordinary national asset and undermining the very social traditions that underpin civic engagement and bind people together in common pursuit."

He added that encouraging volunteerism is “neither a rational for Government downsizing nor an excuse to exploit volunteers' unpaid work, but rather to increase the pool of skills and resources available to the cause of development”. He said at the end of their assignments many of these national UN Volunteers may take up positions in the public service, private sector and in civil society.

According to Douglas Reissner, Deputy President of Namibia Chamber of Commerce and Industry (NCCI), the private sector and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) have comparative advantages on which future collaboration can be determined. For example, the private sector can provide training in various fields such as in food processing and business planning, whereas UNDP being a long established institution worldwide can support the private sector through its various programmes.

“The UNV Support to Capacity Building Programme in Namibia is an initiative strengthened with volunteerism for human-oriented and sustainable development in Namibia,” Dr. Jacqui Badcock, UNDP Resident Representative, said during the event.

National UN Volunteer Usia Nakaambo said the volunteering spirit in which she is building her capacity “reinforces the social and development benefits” of the programme. “Since becoming a UN Volunteer I have learned that selflessness, dedication, altruism, sacrifice, love and empathy, which are just a few of the several virtues I am acquiring through volunteerism, are equally important as technical capability for sustainable human and national development.”

The Forum resolved that NCCI in collaboration with its members and GRN/UNDP would work out a follow-up working session for consolidating the established partnership for mutual benefits on capacity building in all development sectors in Namibia.

Under the Capacity Building Programme -- carried out in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and executed by the Bonn-based United Nations Volunteers (UNV) -- UN Volunteers are to take an active part in building local capacity until the year 2005. The volunteers will help upgrade skills of the staff of government institutions in order to help strengthen Namibia's human and institutional capacities for poverty reduction, decentralization and development management.

The UN Volunteers will work primarily to assist the Government in decentralization and regional planning, education and training, health, agriculture as well as small and medium enterprise development. Through on-the-job training, mentoring, online teaching/learning resources and workshops, they will upgrade technical skills and the ability of about 1,000 staff of beneficiary institutions to perform their functions.

The recruitment of 335 national UN Volunteers -- comprising Namibian university graduates and other qualified individuals -- into government institutions, non-governmental organizations and the private sector, is one of the programme strategies for building capacity of competent young Namibians for ensuring sustained national human resources supply in all development fields. The indirect beneficiaries of this programme are mainly the disadvantaged groups and communities in the most deprived regions of the country.

The Government, in partnership with the bilateral and multilateral donor community, will cover the costs of the programme, which is estimated at nearly US$29 million over a five-year period. The Government has committed over US$3 million, and UNDP and UNV are providing about US$300,000. The remaining amount is to be raised through resource mobilization. The private sector is expected to support the Programme with about US$ 2.5 million using different modalities.