WINDHOEK, Jan. 20 — The European Union (EU) and Namibia on Monday signed a contribution agreement aimed at strengthening good governance and anti-corruption initiatives in the southern African nation. Speaking at the signing ceremony in Windhoek, the Namibian capital, EU Ambassador to Namibia Ana Martins announced a contribution of 20 million Namibian dollars (about 1 million U.S. dollars) to the United Nations Development Programme to support Namibia’s Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC). “This partnership marks a significant step in a journey to promote good governance, transparency, and accountability here in Namibia,” Martins said. The funding will focus on strengthening the ACC’s technical and managerial capacity and implementing Namibia’s National Anti-Corruption Strategy and Action Plan, she said, adding that it will also support the establishment of an independent Information Commissioner’s Office to implement the country’s Access to Information Act. The EU has supported governance initiatives in Namibia before, including helping develop a corruption risk management framework and assisting the country with anti-money laundering reforms. “The fact that most of the cooperation with Namibian authorities until now has been through peer-to-peer exchanges between Namibian and European experts also demonstrates that we all have governance challenges and that we benefit from learning from each other,” Martins said.
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