AMBASSADOR DYBUL VISIT TO NAMIBIA

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 WINDHOEK 000283 SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR AF/S, S/GAC STATE PASS TO USAID STATE PASS TO PEACE CORPS STATE PASS TO CDC E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL PGOV KHIV WA SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR DYBUL VISIT TO NAMIBIA - - - - Summary - - - - ¶1. (SBU) U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator Ambassador Mark Dybul recently completed a three day official visit (September 8-10) to Namibia. The visit's main purpose was to underscore the USG's partnership with Namibia in its fight against HIV/AIDS. During his meetings with Namibian government (GRN) officials Dybul discussed the desirability for a Partnership Compact for the second phase of the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR); underscored the U.S. legislative requirement that U.S. development assistance be exempt from local taxation; and expressed his support for Namibia to host the next PEPFAR Implementing Partners conference. Namibian President Hifikepunye Pohamba, Prime Minister Nahas Angula and other senior government officials thanked the USG for the PEPFAR program and made a commitment to resolve the issue of the payment of VAT taxes by the USG's local PEPFAR implementing partners. Dybul also met with leaders of corporations which have developed strong workplace programs; discussed the status of PEPFAR activities with implementing partners and key donor organizations, and visited PEPFAR-funded projects in both Windhoek and Namibia's Caprivi region. Dybul's visit received significant and positive media coverage. End Summary. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Government to Government Meetings - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ¶2. (SBU) U.S. Global Aids Coordinator Ambassador Mark Dybul began his visit to Namibia with a call on President Hifikepunye Pohamba on September 8. Also in attendance were the Minister of Health Richard Kamwi, the Deputy Permanent Secretary for Health Dr. Norbert Forster, and the Director General of the National Planning Commission Peter Katjavivi. Ambassador Mathieu, the directors of USAID, CDC, and Peace Corps, the PEPFAR Coordinator and Econoff also attended. ¶3. (SBU) President Pohamba started by thanking Ambassador Mathieu, Ambassador Dybul and the USG on behalf of his government and the Namibian people for PEPFAR's "wonderful work" in "keeping us (Namibia) going" and helping to "prolong" the lives of his countrymen. The President emphasized that HIV/AIDS has destroyed Namibian families, but that, with PEPFAR funded anti-retroviral (ARV) treatments, �00A;people who were once ill are now returning to work and taking care of their families again. "Everyone" has noticed the marked decline in the number of dead and sick from HIV/AIDS, Pohamba stated. ¶4. (SBU) President Pohamba expressed concern that a change in U.S. administration would result in a diminished U.S. commitment to PEPFAR in Namibia. Ambassador Dybul responded that PEPFAR enjoys deep bipartisan support and that both candidates for U.S. President had supported the five-year PEPFAR reauthorization. Dybul congratulated the President on Namibia's progress in fighting HIV/AIDS, stressing Pohamba's leadership role and that of his government ministers. Dybul informed Pohamba that the USG ) in light of Namibia's sustained leadership - supported Namibia's interest in hosting next year's PEPFAR Implementing Partners conference. ¶5. (SBU) Dybul then explained that the United States is moving toward new PEPFAR partnership arrangements (compacts) built on transparency and sustainability that would entail Namibia assuming responsibility for an increasing percentage of HIV/AIDS programs. Pohamba also embraced this idea. Pohamba closed the meeting by thanking the USG once again, and especially noted the dedication of many Peace Corps Volunteer teachers who are "living (and teaching) in the bush." He remarked that he had visited many of them when he was a minister. ¶6. (SBU) A later meeting with Prime Minister Nahas Angula echoed many of the themes discussed during Dybul's visit with the President. As he did with the President, Ambassador Dybul expressed concern that some U.S. implementing partners had been subjected to payment of VAT taxes, and he underscored the requirement of the U.S. Congress that PEPFAR funds (and U.S. development assistance in general) be exempt from taxation. The Prime Minister responded that during Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) compact negotiations the GRN had positively resolved similar U.S. concerns, and he expressed confidence that a similar arrangement could be WINDHOEK 00000283 002 OF 003 reached regarding PEPFAR activities. ¶7. (SBU) Angula stressed the need for improved evaluation and measurement of Namibia's HIV/AIDS activities, as well as reduced administrative (overhead) costs. Dybul agreed, saying both sides should include strong results-oriented metrics when negotiating the new partnership compact. The Prime Minister remarked that inadequate access to proper nutrition remains an impediment to HIV/AIDS efforts and stressed the need for Namibia to become more food independent to ensure uninterrupted access to reasonably priced food. Dybul acknowledged that malnutrition is detrimental to the effectiveness of HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment, but pointed out that PEPFAR's mandate does not cover nutrition (food development and distribution). He added, however, that PEPFAR encourages host governments to seek synergies between their HIV/AIDS programs and other initiatives as much as possible. ¶8. (SBU) In a separate meeting, Minister of Health Kamwi told Dybul that the focus of the GRN's HIV/AIDS-related efforts has been on ARVs, human resources (training for doctors and other medical staff),and infrastructure (clinics). Kamwi cited many of Namibia's successes, highlighting that mother-to-child HIV transmission has been cut dramatically; more than 80 percent of babies born from infected mothers today are HIV negative. Nevertheless, Kamwi agreed with a point Dybul stressed with the President that future efforts will need to focus on prevention activities that target behavior modification. Kamwi mentioned that Namibia wants to promote male circumcision (a procedure that significantly reduces a man's risk of contracting HIV),and noted the importance of working with traditional practitioners. Kamwi explained that one traditional doctor had performed 3000 male circumcisions last year. ¶9. (SBU) Kamwi agreed with Dybul that the GRN's HIV/AIDS program must cross ministerial boundaries, not just fall under his Health Ministry's domain. (Note: Dybul stressed the need for inter-ministerial cooperation at all of his meetings with GRN officials. End Note). He pointed out that the Ministry of Education has incorporated HIV/AIDS training into its curricula, and the Ministry of Defense was proactive, but he acknowledged that there was room for greater collaboration. Kamwi's deputy permanent secretary Dr. Norbert Forster noted that HIV prevalence rates rise sharply once students leave school, reflecting that while schools have successfully delivered HIV/AIDS education, unemployed youth and school dropouts no longer hear (or embrace) the message. Forster remarked that the GRN and private sector (and not just workplace programs) need to consider targeting prevention efforts for the unemployed. Kamwi noted that one challenge that has emerged amongst the Namibian AIDS community is the demand for payment by volunteers who provide home-based care and other services to HIV/AIDS patients. - - - - - - - - - - - - Private Sector Meetings - - - - - - - - - - - - ¶10. (SBU) A group of private sector leaders shared their views on the shortcomings of their current workplace efforts as well as the possibility for some new innovative solutions. The group agreed that the Namibian Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS (NABCOA),as it is currently structured, has been less than effective. They noted that NABCOA's "one size fits all" programming had failed to adequately serve its members. Large companies find training sessions less than useful because they already have sophisticated programs in place, while small to medium enterprises (SMEs) find such sessions overly complex and not relevant to their experiences. The group also agreed that much of NABCOA's programs had become too "donor-centric." NABCOA, some argued, had focused less on responding to the needs of the business community and more to the projects proposed and funded by foreign assistance donors. Most concurred that many SMEs did not fully understand the costs associated with HIV/AIDS-related absenteeism and reduced productivity. ¶11. (SBU) Following Dybul's suggestion that business-sponsored HIV/AIDS programs should focus on the private sector's core competency ) the efficient delivery of goods and services ) the group then brain-stormed on potential new initiatives. The most promising idea came from NAMDEB CEO Inge Zaamwani, who mentioned her company had investigated an insurance pooling scheme. The scheme would WINDHOEK 00000283 003 OF 003 allow many of NAMDEB's small vendors the opportunity to provide insurance to their employees. Zaamwani noted that NAMDEB had already determined the costs of such a program and the number of participants required, but NAMDEB was not able to pull together a large enough pool to make it viable. Other participants around the table responded that they were not aware that insurance pooling was an option, but that it would definitely interest them as a way for their suppliers to provide coverage. - - - - - - - - Press Coverage - - - - - - - - ¶12. (U) Ambassador Dybul's visit garnered significant television coverage on the state-owned Namibian Broadcasting Corporation's (NBC) television chaQ. Dybul's call on President Pohamba was the lead story on the evening news program, September 8; the story replayed later that night. Dybul also appeared the same evening on NBC's flagship program "Talk of the Nation." The program focused on PEPFAR's partnership with the GRN, academic, nongovernmental, and faith-based partners to increase Namibia's human resource skills in many different areas ) health counseling, financial management, etc., to fight the epidemic. Dybul praised Namibia's progress in fighting the disease and also pointed out areas in need of improvement. He was joined by Dr. Forster, the Rector of the Namibia Polytechnic and the Director of the Church Alliance for Orphans, a key local partner. Dybul also appeared on NBC's "Good Morning Namibia" on September 10. ¶13. (U) NBC Television estimates that its signal reaches 64 percent of Namibia. Ambassador Dybul appeared on the network's most popular news programs. Opinion leaders and average Namibians regularly follow NBC coverage to keep up with key national issues. - - - - - - Site Visits - - - - - - ¶14. (SBU) On September 9-10, Ambassador Dybul, and the Windhoek PEPFAR team visited a number of PEPFAR-funded sites in both Windhoek and in Namibia's northeastern Caprivi region. The sites illustrated the impressive results Namibia has achieved under the PEPFAR program ) results such as ARV clinics, laboratories, and healthy HIV patients. Nevertheless, the site visits also illustrated the need to improve local (Namibian) capacity as each location had sizeable clinic populations being served by non-Namibian health care professionals who are responsible for implementing programs. - - - - Comment - - - - ¶15. (SBU) Ambassador Dybul had a number of goals he wished to accomplish during his visit to Namibia: - praise the GRN on its leadership in the fight against HIV/AIDS; - express support for Windhoek as the site of the next global HIV/AIDS conference; - emphasize the need for exempting U.S. assistance from taxation; - discuss the upcoming negotiations on a new PEPFAR compact; and, - urge inter-ministerial coordination in the fight against HIV/AIDS. ¶16. (SBU) All of the primary goals were accomplished. The President and PM both seem genuinely honored and interested in having Namibia showcased at the next PEPFAR Implementing Partners conference by acting as host. Both acknowledged that the taxation issue had to be addressed. From the President down, GRN officials appeared to understand and embrace the need for better cooperation and coordination amongst the government's ministries. Post will follow up with NAMDEB on the proposed insurance pool scheme to ascertain whether there would be a role for PEPFAR in facilitating its establishment. End Comment. MATHIEU