U.S. Ambassador Lisa Johnson announced that the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) will contribute $89 million U.S. dollars to Namibia in 2021 to fight HIV. The funding amount is an increase from $81 million USD that the PEPFAR program provided in 2020.
More than 4,000 Namibian HIV patients who stopped taking their antiretroviral medication have resumed treatment as a result of the United States’ food assistance program, which comes to an end in August. “I simply could not take my medication on an empty stomach because of side effects,” recalls Pezaje Tjazuvara from Otjinene, Omaheke Region. The 59-year-old family head is one of 147 patients in the region who have returned to antiretroviral care since she started receiving maize meal, beans, and oil through the food assistance program. “I truly appreciate the food assistance which not only helped me feed my family but also allowed me to take my pills again.”
Seven young women are launching their own tailoring business with the support of the U.S. government-funded DREAMS project in Namibia. Today, the seven entrepreneurs delivered 300 face masks to Project Hope for use in Safe Spaces around the capital, Windhoek. Safe Spaces are locations at schools or in the community where adolescent girls and young women enrolled in the DREAMS program meet to discuss matters affecting young women. U.S. Ambassador Lisa Johnson congratulated the young female entrepreneurs at the small handover ceremony at the Project Hope Namibia offices in Windhoek, and said, “The DREAMS program takes a holistic approach - because our emotional, physical, and financial health are all related. This has become increasingly clear with COVID-19. I am happy to see that you are becoming successful businesswomen in mask tailoring.”
U.S. Ambassador Lisa Johnson and Namibian Prime Minister Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila joined the UN World Food Programme (WFP) in the country’s Oshana Region on 17 February 2020 to deliver more than 85 tons of maize meal, beans, and vegetable oil to more than 12,000 vulnerable Namibians that are affected by the drought.
Yesterday, U.S. Ambassador Lisa Johnson joined the UN World Food Programme, the Honorable Governor of Kavango East, and the Office of the Prime Minister to deliver several tons of maize meal, beans, vegetable oil, and salt to Namibians among those hit worst by the drought. This is the first food assistance of a total of US$8.7 million (N$130 million) in drought relief committed by the United States to the Namibian people.
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Last updated: October 20, 2020
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