Namibia heeds the call for proposals: SDG Fund

Through a joint initiative, between the Government of Namibia and the UN System in Namibia, Namibia will submit proposals to the Joint Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Fund, to accelerate the country’s progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals.

UN Namibia hosted a 3-day multi-stakeholder workshop from 4-6 March 2020 to develop and refine concept notes for submission to the 2020 UN Joint SDG Fund.  Through a participatory planning approach, technical experts from Government line ministries, UN agencies and the private sector convened to formulate and draft concept notes for Components 1 and 2 of the ‘Call for submissions’. [ Component 1 aims to support the development of financing strategies; while Component 2 aims to catalyse strategic investments that leverage public and private financing to advance the SDGs).

The mobilised funds will provide Namibia with an opportunity to scale up the national response to the SDGs and enhance collaboration among UN agencies and development partners. The Joint Fund operates through a series of ‘Calls to the UN System’ that will ultimately lead to the implementation of transformative Joint Programmes under the Resident Coordinator (RC).

“We are committed to Deliver as One (DaO), in order not to leave anyone behind during this Decade of Action for the Sustainable Development Goals,” said United Nations Resident Coordinator, a.i. Ms. Rachel Odede, during her opening remarks. She further underscored how the diverse multi-stakeholder representation bears testimony to “true partnership which maximises the UN’s comparative advantage to realise sustainable development.” Odede also referred to the Decade of Action, calling for ambition, mobilisation and solutions’ orientation during the workshop.

Mr. Ned Sibeya, Director: Development Partners Coordination Directorate, National Planning Commission called for the need to accelerate efforts and intensify interventions to meet the targets of the 2030 Agenda. “This decade presents a window of opportunity to really scale up efforts in achieving National Development Plan 5, Sustainable Development Goals ( SDG’s) Vision 2030 and pave the way towards the possible achievement  of our own continental Agenda 2063 for which this fund provides the requisite financial resources to intensify our interventions in Namibia, ” he said.

Mr. Immanuel Nashivela, Deputy Director: Fiscal, Monetary Policy and Financial Market Development conveyed the support of the Ministry of Finance, “We believe this initiative will take us a long way in attainment of the National goals and help in improving the welfare of our people.” In the same vein, Chief Development Officer from the Ministry of Gender Equality and Child Welfare, Mr. Mitchell Mubuyaeta, welcomed the workshop initiative and expressed his commitment to provide inputs especially from the vantage point of Gender Responsive Budgeting.

The workshop was a fruitful working session, where participants undertook in-depth analysis, collective brainstorming and synthesising of agreed-upon elements, developing and refining the Concept Notes to both Components 1 and 2. The session further provided a platform to cultivate a practice of peer learning and knowledge exchange contributing to increased coherence of development interventions by UN Namibia. The Concept Notes have been finalised and are ready for endorsement and review by the Government and the UN Country Team before final submission this week. 

Ms. Eunice Ajambo, Economist and Development Coordination Officer at UN Namibia expressed gratitude to workshop participants for their “most high levels of professionalism, enabling us to finalise the 2.5 days’ workshop on the drafting of the Concept Notes.” Ajambo, who is the Project Lead for the Joint SDG Funding Proposal highlighted the outstanding commitment of Government and non-state actors, underscoring the valuable revelations they brought on the very high stakes nature of Namibia’s development challenges and the necessity for an inclusive  and coordinated approach to the funding proposal drafting process. “We should expect and hope for positive results as all relevant voices were indeed heard, and Government (our principals) guided us,” she added. The UN anticipate submitting the fund proposals by 15 March 2020.