The UNESCO Office in Windhoek is a Namibia’s country office that seeks to support the government of the Republic of Namibia to achieve its own development programmes and strategies consistent with international agreements, declarations and conventions.

The Office drives UNESCO’s mission to contribute to the building of peace, the eradication of poverty, sustainable development and intercultural dialogue through education, the sciences, culture, and communication and information.

Activities being implemented by UNESCO Windhoek Office

In Education, UNESCO Windhoek Office is committed to a holistic vision of quality education and the realization of everyone’s right to education in Namibia. The Office prioritizes teachers’ education and professional development and supports the revitalization of Vocational Education and Training.
UNESCO Windhoek Office is also supporting the Namibian government and other national stakeholders in implementing Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) in the Global Action Programme (GAP).
Through the EDUCAIDS programme, UNESCO is providing learning and teaching support materials on HIV/AIDS and care and support system to cater for the psychosocial needs of teachers and learners affected by HIV and AIDS. The Office is also supporting the national response to HIV and AIDS, especially HIV prevention and Sexual and Reproductive Health Education for young people.

In Natural Sciences, UNESCO Windhoek Office supports initiatives on policy development in areas such as Water Resources Management and Science and Technology innovation. The Office is also providing capacity building on International Hydrological and the Man and the Biosphere programmes.

Cultural resources and creativity represent an important asset in optimizing the potentials of economic development. UNESCO in Namibia therefore coordinates and assists in the implementation of a number of interventions aimed at strengthening the Namibian cultural and creative sectors, as well as consolidating their linkages with sustainable development and poverty reduction, thus contributing to the achievement of the MDGs, post-2015 agenda as well as the Vision 2030 and the implementation of NDP IV. UNESCO is convinced that no development can be sustainable without a strong culture component. Indeed only a human-centred approach to development based on mutual respect and open dialogue among cultures can lead to lasting, inclusive and equitable results.

In the area of Communication and Information, the Office is promoting freedom of expression and the press particularly through the celebration of World Press Freedom Day and World Radio Day every year. In addition, the Office also promotes grassroots media development, in particular community radios and building inclusive knowledge societies through information and communication.

As part of the United Nations Country Team (UNCT) in Namibia, UNESCO Office works in synergy with the United Nations Sister Agencies to implement UNPAF (United Nations Partnership Framework) for 2014-2018. UNESCO is leading Pillar I – “Institutional Environment” which includes the following components among others: Policies and legislative frameworks to ensure transparency, accountability and effective oversight of public affairs; Promotion and protection of human rights; Functional monitoring and evaluation and statistical analysis systems in place. UNESCO Windhoek is also co-leading with UNICEF Pillar II - “Education and Skills” with the aim to improve learning outcomes at all levels.

The Multisectoral Regional Office (MSRO) for Southern Africa
The Windhoek National Office is part of the Southern Africa Multisectoral Regional Office based in Harare, Zimbabwe. The MSRO have full authority in the region with regards to coordination of the programme design, implementation, monitoring, evaluation and reporting within the overall C/4 and C/5 programme framework and in collaboration within Headquarters and other regional field offices and relevant national offices.

Other Countries within the MSRO are Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Swaziland and Zambia

21-08-2014CALL FOR ABSTRACTS, PAPERS AND REGISTRATION FOR THE 32ND EEASA CONFERENCE, ON 9-12 SEPTEMBER 2014, AT UNAM MAIN CAMPUS
The 32nd conference of the Environmental Education Association of Southern Africa (EEASA) is scheduled to take place at University of Namibia (UNAM) from the 9th to the 12th September 2014. The EEASA conference is a very important annual event in the field of Environmental Education (EE) and Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) in Southern Africa. It has over the years proved to be a very useful forum for EE/ESD practitioners from diverse backgrounds in Southern Africa and outside the continent to share ideas, reflect on their practices and improve EE/ESD in the region. The conference organization is coordinated by the University of Namibia (UNAM) as lead and host institution, the Namibia Environmental Education Network (NEEN); the Ministry of Environment and Tourism (MET); the Ministry of Youth, Sport and Culture (MYNSSC); the Ministry of Education (MoE) and UNESCO.

The theme of this year’s conference is: “Reflections on the current and emerging ESD issues and practices informing the post DESD framework programme’’.
Environmentalists, educationists, researchers, and interested individuals are invited to attend the conference on the above mentioned dates.

The registration fees include EEASA membership, standard accommodation, welcome reception, conference materials, airport transfers, local transport, tea/coffee, lunch, theme and conference dinner. Late registration ends on 29th August 2014. More

09-04-2014CALL FOR CONSULTANT:Evaluation of the OSISA/UNESCO project on advancing Education For All (EFA) in the Southern Africa Region.
The OSISA/UNESCO project “Advancing Education For All (EFA) in the Southern Africa Region” is based on the recommendations of the EFA Conference held in Johannesburg in February 2005, convened by the Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa (OSISA), World Education Initiative (WEI) and UNESCO. The conference was attended by members of the public sector as well as civil society organizations pursuing education issues.
The main objective of this assignment is to undertake the evaluation of the OSISA/UNESCO project on Advancing Education For All (EFA) in the Southern Africa Region. This evaluation was foreseen to be commissioned by UNESCO in consultation with OSISA four months following completion of the project. This evaluation will assess the overall performance of the project including the projects’ main achievements, shortcomings and gaps, as well as recommendations for a roadmap on future collaboration between OSISA and UNESCO in the field of EFA.
The consultant will be a specialist in the Education sector. The consultant will be provided with all the country activity reports from the project, as well as the contact details of the relevant project partner institutions at national level. The consultant will also be provided with the progress reports submitted by UNESCO to OSISA. The consultant will provide the findings of the project evaluation to the UNESCO Windhoek Education Team. More

15-03-2014Addressing the Global Learning Crisis – UNESCO launches the Education for All (EFA) Global Monitoring Report (GMR) 2013/14 and the “Quality Teachers for EFA” project in Namibia
UNESCO, in collaboration with the Namibian Ministry of Education (MoE) and the Faculty of Education of the University of Namibia (UNAM) officially launched the Education for All (EFA) Global Monitoring Report (GMR) 2013/14 “Teaching and Learning: Achieving Quality for All” and the project “Enhancing Teacher Education for Bridging the Education Quality Gap in Sub-Saharan Africa” in Namibia under the Funds-in-Trust agreement between UNESCO and the Government of the People’s Republic of China. This official launch was held on Monday, 24 February 2014 at 17:00h in the UNAM main hall, and was honoured by the presence of the Honourable Minister of Education, Dr David Namwandi and the UNESCO Assistant Director General of Education, Dr Qian Tang. More

10-12-2013Eastern and Southern Africa’s leaders agree. It’s time to act now on young people’s HIV education and sexual health needs.Cape Town, ICASA Conference, High Level Ministerial and UN Meeting, 07 December 2013
On Saturday 07 December, at a packed meeting of experts and youth activists convened by UNESCO and other UN agencies, political and youth leaders from 21 countries in Eastern and Southern Africa reached an historic agreement in the response to HIV. Recognising the urgency of the situation facing young people, education and health ministers have endorsed and adopted the UN commitment to address modern day realities by ramping up sexuality education and health services. Crucially, 2.6 million young people are living with HIV in this region, while deaths caused by AIDS among adolescents have risen globally by 50% since 2005 – in stark contrast to the overall global trend of a reduction of AIDS-related deaths. More

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization

The UNESCO Office in Windhoek is a Namibia’s country office that seeks to support the government of the Republic of Namibia to achieve its own development programmes and strategies consistent with international agreements, declarations and conventions.

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