By Mathias Haufiku
WINDHOEK – Namibia has pledged US$50 000 (N$563 000) to the Africa World Heritage Fund, but has not made any pledge to the efforts of restoring peace in the Central African Republic (CAR) saying it first wants to assess the availability of funds to render assistance to CAR.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, in an interview with New Era this week, was emphatic that the decision not to make any pledge to the CAR cause “does not mean we do not care about the Central African Republic.” The Africa World Heritage Fund has empowered many African nations to prepare presentations of their heritage sites to Unesco’s World Heritage Council for listing on the World Heritage List. Namibia has two sites, the Namib Sand Sea and Twyfelfontein, which is also known as /Ui-//aes, listed on the Unesco World Heritage List.
The ongoing conflict in the Central African Republic (CAR) has brought the country to the brink of collapse and it is estimated that at least 10 000 peacekeepers are required to bring about peace in that country.
“We are not the only ones who did not pledge, but that is not the reason that we opted not to pledge. It is not because we see the CAR situation as unimportant, but we must take into consideration where we are as a country, we just had a severe drought and we do not know if and when we would recover, especially if you consider the rain patterns in the country,” explained the minister.
Namibia made the pledge last weekend during the African World Heritage Fund meeting, a side event held during the African Solidarity Initiative conference, held in Addis Ababa Ethiopia.
Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah says the Africa World Heritage Fund plays “a very important role when it comes to preserving culture and our heritage. It also boosts tourism, because the more tourists learn about heritage sites in a country, the more they will visit such a country.”
The CAR descended into political turmoil in March last year after rebels overthrew the legitimate government, leading to violence between the Christian majority and a Muslim minority that has left millions homeless and over 100 000 casualties.
“Last year we promised a million to Mali, which we have paid. So we will continue to pay attention to the peace and security situation in that country and when we are in a position to help we will do it,” said Nandi-Ndaitwah.