UNRC New Year's Message: "A Year of Recovery"

“Moments of great difficulty are also moments of great opportunity.” - UN Secretary General, Antonio Gutteres.

With the New Year already in full swing allow me to extend my best wishes for 2022! Wishing you and your loved ones a year of fundamental growth and prosperity!

Reflecting on the past year, there have been considerable milestones and positive gains for human development, despite a climate of unprecedented economic and health challenges…

The hard work of the UN family in Namibia with all its counterparts from government and the private sector has not gone unnoticed. I would like to extend my appreciation to the UN family for their uttermost dedication to support the Government to keep the endeavour of the SDGs, reach vulnerable populations, swiftly acting in humanitarian crises and continuously pushing to reach more Namibians.

As a UN staff, we have lost loved ones in our personal lives and sadly as a UN family in Namibia, we have lost two dear UN staff members who selflessly dedicated themselves by contributing to the work of the UN. The work of every UN family member is greatly valued and as we deal with the loss of one of our own, we are inspired to emulate the values and drive which we greatly admired.

We remain humbled and motivated to ensure “no one is left behind” and that our legacy at UN Namibia will be the “people-centred” work we do in our communities.

Under my leadership and that of the United Nations Country Team, the UN family has already hit the ground running to stay on course for 2022; working to eradicate poverty and inequality and bring about impactful change that will affect the lives of Namibians, especially our most vulnerable populations.

Through our partnership framework (UNPAF) with Government and stakeholders, we endeavour to continue contributing to the key result areas in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and National Development Plans. These result areas include:

Economic Progression

Social Transformation

Environmental Sustainability

Good Governance

We continue to aspire to fast-track progress so that by the year 2030, an equitable, inclusive, peaceful Namibia with a sustainable societal and economic fabric, coupled with a resilient environment and transformational governance will become a reality for the land of the brave. We are eight years away from achieving our goals and will need to come together in the spirit of partnership with all spheres of society to effect change.

Our UN Secretary General Antonio Gutteres has called for recovery to be our resolution for 2022. I echo his urgent call, and resolve to make recovery our mission, vowing to come together in even greater and meaningful ways, uniting for solutions to benefit all.

I challenge and invite all sectors of society to heed this call and join us!

As we stand on the precipice of possibilities – let’s re-engage ourselves in the Decade of Action, calling on all sectors to mobilize for tangible results on the ground for people, for planet and prosperity.

The United Nations Namibia have hit the ground running to ensure that we remain responsive and agile to the development challenges we face in Namibia.  Through our 12 agencies, programmes and funds we will continue to place people at the centre of our work to support the Government of the Republic of Namibia and the people of the land of the brave.

Reach out to us and let’s find ways to resolve to make 2022 a Year of Recovery.

Best wishes

Sen Pang

UN Resident Coordinator