Flood management and the pilot project launched

Michelline Nawatises

The Namibia Red Cross Society (NRCS and the City of Windhoek (CoW)have launched a flood management and support pilot project in Windhoek. About 30 households from the 71 assessed households affected by the floods will benefit from this project.

Namibia Red Cross Society through the support of the Islandic Partners received funding of N$140,000 early this year. The funding is aimed at giving provision of support in terms of Livelihood support- food support, flood management and support and risk communication and community engagement for COVID-19 and Hepatitis E.

Namibia Red Cross Society initiated dialogues with the City of Windhoek partners to enhance collaborative efforts for the Samora Machel Constituency (a constituency in Windhoek in the Khomas Region of central Namibia)

The City of Windhoek concluded their assessment of in January 2021 on households severely affected by the heavy rains we received early this year. This assessment results paved a way for Namibia Red Cross Society to define the project scope and activity intervention.

When asked by Careers why there was a need for flood management and support of the pilot project, Wilhelmina Gaoses, who is the National Health and Social Coordinator of Red Cross Society mentions that many households were affected by the heavy rains Namibia received early this year.

The City of Windhoek acted quickly and provided relocation options for these families. “Our role as Namibia Red Cross is to respond in crises and disasters and it’s with this understanding that Namibia Red Cross Society envisioned to bring in our support to the Windhoek communities affected by the disasters experienced during the heavy rains in Windhoek informal settlements,” Gaoses says.

Namibia Red Cross Society will provide social and health-related services within local communities that complement formal health care services provided by the Ministry of Health and Social Services and other agencies

What the pilot project entails the following:

· Provide Risks Communication and Community Engagement for COVID-19, HEP-E

· Provide Community Health Education and environmental advocacy on healthy communities.

· Assess households affected by the flood and provide food support to 30 households in Samora Machel Constituency.

· Engage communities to take ownership of Flood Management and mitigation processes.

· Trained and capacitated Community Volunteers on Flood Management and RCCE interventions for communities.

Namibia Red Cross envisions community members who are engaged to drive sustainable actions for healthy livelihoods in the near future and aims to see opportunities where community members can define their issues and drive actions towards the resolute of these issues. “If communities take ownership in the change they want to see and bring than interventions like this pilot project will be sustained in terms of longevity and impact to disaster response,” Gaoses adds.

Nestor Kalola who is the regional councillor of Samora Machel Constituency says that as communities we need to work together as members to respond to national crises and disasters.