World Food Programme Fighting Hunger Worldwide

Refugee Relief: Since 1999, WFP has been providing food assistance to Angolan and other refugees and asylum seekers in Namibia. WFP still provides monthly food rations to some 6,500 refugees and asylum seekers from other countries, most of them in the Great Lakes region. Efforts are being made to find a durable solution to the refugee situation. WFP will provide   a three-month food package to refugees who decide to return home. 

Flood Response: WFP gives technical assistance to the Government of Namibia to deliver life-saving food assistance to people affected by floods, mainly in the northern and north-eastern parts of Namibia. Specific support is provided in the 

areas of food assistance programming and associated logistics including beneficiary targeting, warehouse and commodity management, food distribution and reporting.

 

 

• Assistance to Refugees and Asylum Seekers Residing in Osire Settlement in Namibia (PRRO 200061) 

 

• Technical Assistance to the Government of Namibia in response to the floods in northern and northeast Namibia (EMOP 200282)

 

 

 

Food assistance to refugees and asylum seekers has been ongoing since the first influx of Angolan refugees began in 1999. Prior to 2002, some 23,000 Angolans took refuge in Namibia. Namibia also hosts many refugees and asylum seekers from the Great Lakes region. Despite efforts on the part of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) to repatriate these refugees and asylum seekers, some 6,500 remain in the Osire settlement. 

 

Through PRRO (200061), WFP provides general food distribution (GFD) to the refugees living in the settlement, maintains the nutritional status of malnourished children and mothers through supplementary feeding, and supplies food to refugees upon their departure. A Joint Assessment Mission (JAM) conducted in 2009 recommended continuation of food assistance to refugees until the end of 2011 along with enhanced efforts to support the Government of Namibia (GRN) in identifying and implementing durable solutions to the problem. The JAM also concluded that 61.5% of the refugee population – some 4,000 people - are food insecure and heavily depend on food aid for their survival. It was judged that the remainder of the settlement population could manage with a reduced level of food assistance if this were implemented along with the granting of additional rights, including increased freedom of movement, a better defined legal status and wider access to services.

 

The Government of Namibia is working with UNHCR and WFP to identify and implement durable solutions, including local integration and voluntary repatriation. Relief assistance will be targeted to food insecure groups and a three-month repatriation food package will be provided to individuals being locally integrated or voluntarily repatriated. In addition, PRRO 200061 will continue to support a small case load of malnourished children as well as debilitated adults through a supplementary feeding programme.

 

 

Namibia suffers from recurrent natural disasters including floods and droughts. During the first quarter of 2011, heavy rains led to elevated river levels causing severe flooding in the northern parts of Kunene, Caprivi, Kavango, Ohangwena, Omusati, Oshikoto and Oshana. The floods also caused significant crop and food stock damage, disrupted local businesses and put the lives and livelihoods of more than 200,000 people at stake (an estimated 60,000 people were displaced from their homes).

 

Following the President’s declaration in March 2011 of a national flood emergency, the Government of Namibia (GRN) responded by allocating about US$4.4 million to respond to the flood emergency. The government is providing food assistance to an estimated 20,000 people who have been displaced in several relocation camps in the six most flood-affected regions. To support the national flood response efforts, WFP launched an EMOP where technical assistance is being provided to the government to deliver life-saving food assistance in a timely and effective manner. Technical support is provided both at the national and regional level in the areas of food assistance programming and associated logistics including beneficiary targeting, warehouse and commodity management, food distribution and reporting. With strong indications that the long-term food security of households dependent on subsistence farming will be affected, WFP will provide technical support to the GRN to carry out an emergency food security assessment to determine medium-term food needs and appropriate response options.