Gbeho leaves legacy

The United Nations resident coordinator in Namibia, Anita Kiki Gbeho, will take up the position of deputy joint special representative for the African Union Nations Hybrid Operation (UNAMID) in Darfur, starting this month. UNAMID protects civilians, facilitates the delivery of humanitarian assistance, mediates between the government of Sudan and non-signatory armed movements on the basis of the Doha Document for Peace in Darfur and provides support to the mediation of community conflict.Since arriving in Namibia in August 2015, Gbeho has actively worked to strengthen cooperation between the UN and the Namibian government. According to a press release issued by UN Namibia, her leadership in establishing the Development Partners Forum and institutionalisation of the Development Partners Dialogue not only strengthened development support towards the government, but enhanced development cooperation in Namibia. Under her stewardship, the UN achieved several milestones and earned the sobriquet 'Partner of Choice'. Some highlights of successful interventions under her leadership included the acceleration of the national response to the hepatitis E outbreak, the rollout of the Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) curriculum and teaching guidelines in schools that reached 680 teachers in last year and 36 448 learners. She also supported the 'Be Free' movement to ensure an AIDS-free generation in Namibia and mobilized US$37 million for HIV and TB response and US$2.3 million for malaria elimination in support of national frameworks and strategies. Other initiatives supported by her included the roll out of E-birth registration, and the Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission of HIV Programme achieved scale-up across all 14 regions, reaching over 95% of health facilities and meeting the global target of 95% PMTCT coverage. Gbeho was also involved with establishing a cost-effective way, through the UN, to procure vaccines, equipment and medical supplies for the government. The supplies, which are approved by the World Health Organisation, help the government save 60% in costs and are of the utmost importance during outbreaks and emergencies. She also supported the roll out of the Conservation Agriculture Programme by training 48 agriculture ministry staff and 2 500 farmers on conservation and good agricultural practices in five regions;Furthermore she supported the implementation and management of the national school feeding programme, reaching over 330 000 students in 1 400 schools across the 14 regions and supported the Directorate of Disaster Risk Management to develop regional disaster preparedness, response and contingency plans and hold a simulation exercise.Gbeho encourages Namibia to continue focusing on improving data collection, efficiency of programming and coordination. At the same time, Gbeho encourages Namibia to continue empowering the youth, both women and men, Namibia's largest demographic, to be the force for positive change. Gbeho remains optimistic for Namibia's future, stating, “It is important to keep building on Namibia's 'good stories' to address the very real challenges that the country faces”. She believes Namibia can be an example of best practice on the continent. Rachel Odede, UNICEF Namibia representative, takes over as interim UN resident coordinator. Izumi Morota-Alakija, UNDP deputy representative, will be the interim UNDP resident representative.

Gbeho leaves legacy

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Namibian Sun 2025-09-18

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Gbeho leaves legacy

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Namibian Sun 2025-09-18

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