WINDHOEK, March 21 (Xinhua) -- Namibia's President Hage Geingob said Tuesday that poverty had continued to wreak havoc in Namibia.
Speaking at the country's independence celebrations in Rundu town, northeast Namibia, Geingob said his government would concentrate on fulfilling the needs of underprivileged and vulnerable groups by bringing relief through the existing and new social relief programs.
The Namibian government has increased the old age grant from 1,100 Namibian dollars (87 U.S. dollars) to 1,200 Namibian dollars this year, an amount which has doubled from 600 Namibian dollars in 2014.
"This initiative has made meaningful impact in reducing poverty levels, not only amongst out senior citizens, but our children as well, since many of our children are under care of senior citizens," he said.
The government is also exploring measures to accelerate industrialization and job creation, as well as rolling out the food bank program.
According a report titled "Namibia Poverty Mapping", released in 2015, Namibia registered a general decline in the incidence of poverty of 11 percentage points over the 2001-2011 period, with national incidence of poverty declining from 37.9 percent to 26.9 percent over this period.
The report stated that an estimated 568,418 people are said to be poor. This indicates 125,277 fewer people living in poverty at the end of this 10-year period than would have been the case if the poverty rate had remained unchanged.
