Windhoek: Prime Minister Elijah Ngurare has urged Namibia to utilise its rich indigenous knowledge systems and traditional institutions to enhance community resilience against disasters and improve environmental management. The prime minister was speaking at the Ministry of Environment's two-day inter-stakeholder engagement workshop on environmental stewardship and gender mainstreaming for state resilience to shocks and disasters, which started in Windhoek on Monday.

According to Namibia Press Agency, Ngurare emphasised that environmental governance involves both traditional authority and modern state structure, aligning with principles of environmental law and the lessons enshrined in the Namibian constitution. He stressed the importance of building state resilience to shocks and disasters, advocating for an approach filled with hope rather than despair.

Ngurare highlighted the role of local wisdom and community environmental recollection as essential tools for protecting ecosystems and building resilience. He noted that Namibia's resilience agenda is firmly established in the Sixth National Development Plan (NDP6), aiming for a resilient, inclusive, and sustainable upper-middle-income economy by 2030.

The workshop aims to enhance cross-sectoral collaboration in addressing interconnected risks such as climate change, biodiversity loss, and socio-economic vulnerability, while balancing environmental, health, social, and economic priorities. It also seeks to promote awareness of gender equity and equality to mitigate disaster impacts and incorporate gender analysis in disaster management, risk reduction, and sustainable development.

Ngurare also pointed out that floodwater harvesting, desalination technology, and careful water management and planning can help overcome current and future challenges. He shared insights from a recent consultation with the ambassador of Algeria, who offered expertise in desert agriculture, ready to be piloted in the Erongo region between Usakos and Arandis as a step towards action.

Ngurare urged Namibians to unite in building environmental resilience, noting that natural disasters such as the flooding in Zambezi, the Cuvelai flooding in Oshana, Omusati, Ohangwena, and Oshikoto, as well as occasional floods in Windhoek, are all part of these natural occurrences.