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81-540: Prior to an armed conflict occurring, peace processes can include the prevention of an intrastate or inter-state dispute from escalating into military conflict. The United Nations Department of Peace Operations (UNDPO) terms the prevention of disputes from escalating into armed conflicts as conflict prevention . In 2007, the United Nations Secretary-General's Policy Committee classed both initial prevention of an armed conflict and prevention of

162-654: A free and fair election . SWAPO won a plurality of seats in the Constituent Assembly with 57% of the popular vote. This gave the party 41 seats, but not a two-thirds majority, which would have enabled it to draft the constitution on its own. The Namibian Constitution was adopted in February 1990. It incorporated protection for human rights and compensation for state expropriations of private property and established an independent judiciary, legislature, and an executive presidency (the constituent assembly became

243-476: A "tiny percentage" of funding for peacebuilding was given to women's organisations . United Nations Department of Peace Operations The Department of Peace Operations ( DPO ) (French: Département des opérations de maintien de la paix ) is a department of the United Nations charged with the planning, preparation, management, and direction of UN peacekeeping operations. Previously known as

324-484: A DPO reform effort launched in 2005 entitled 'Peace Operations 2010', which further pursues reforms initiated by the 'Brahimi Report' Report of the Panel on United Nations Peacekeeping Operations. This included an increase in personnel, the harmonization of the conditions of service of field and headquarters staff, the development of guidelines and standard operating procedures, and improving the partnership arrangement between

405-624: A UN mission were to enter Darfur . As of 2010, DPO led 16 different missions in Africa , the Caribbean , the Middle East , Americas , Europe , and Asia . Serving in these missions were over 100,000 uniformed and civilian personnel. Total approved annual expenses were over US$ 5 billion for the period July 2006 to June 2007. DPO is split into two main offices: the Office of Operations and

486-566: A long-lasting peace are established. Stable peace settlement is possible only with the exhaustion of belligerents or the decisive victory of one side. "Hopes for military success must fade for accommodation to become more attractive than further combat," but premature ceasefires prevent belligerents from exhaustion and let them rearm their forces. That in turn prolongs war and leads to further killings and destruction. According to Neville Melvin Gertze of Namibia , speaking at an October 2019 meeting of

567-506: A matter of subsequent agreement as to which territories in the foregoing territories will be brought under the trusteeship system and under what terms". The UN requested all former League of Nations mandates be surrendered to its Trusteeship Council in anticipation of their independence. South Africa declined to do so and instead requested permission from the UN to formally annex South West Africa, for which it received considerable criticism. When

648-935: A regional service centre in Entebbe ( Uganda ). The UN Truce Supervision Organisation ( UNTSO ) and the UN Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan ( UNMOGIP ) are excluded from the Peacekeeping Operations budget and are financed through the regular UN budget. The top 5 providers of assessed contributions to the UN Peacekeeping Operations budget for 2020-2021 were: United States (27.89%), China (15.21%), Japan (8.56%), Germany (6.09%), and United Kingdom (5.79%). Namibia Namibia ( / n ə ˈ m ɪ b i ə / , / n æ ˈ -/ ), officially

729-520: A sewage-to-water treatment project in Namibia not only provides citizens with safe drinking water, but also boosts productivity by 6% per year. All pollutants and impurities are removed using cutting-edge "multi-barrier" technology, which includes residual chlorination, ozone treatment, and ultra membrane filtration. Strict bio-monitoring methods are also used throughout the process to ensure high-quality, safe drinking water. On 8 June 2023, Namibia became

810-489: A westerly and southwesterly direction to as little as 50 mm (2 in) and less per annum at the coast. The only perennial rivers are found on the national borders with South Africa, Angola, Zambia, and the short border with Botswana in the Caprivi Strip. In the interior of the country, surface water is available only in the summer months when rivers are in flood after exceptional rainfalls. Otherwise, surface water

891-614: Is Windhoek . The driest country in sub-Saharan Africa , Namibia has been inhabited since pre-historic times by the Khoi , San , Damara and Nama people . Around the 14th century, immigrating Bantu peoples arrived as part of the Bantu expansion . From 1600 the Ovambo formed kingdoms, such as Ondonga and Oukwanyama . In 1884, the German Empire established rule over most of

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972-531: Is by far the largest urban settlement in Namibia. Namibia extends from 17°S to 25°S latitude: climatically the range of the sub-Tropical High Pressure Belt. Its overall climate description is arid, descending from the Sub-Humid [mean rain above 500 mm (20 in)] through Semi-Arid [between 300 and 500 mm (12 and 20 in)] (embracing most of the waterless Kalahari) and Arid [from 150 to 300 mm (6 to 12 in)] (these three regions are inland from

1053-408: Is generally flat and the soils sandy, limiting their ability to retain water and support agriculture. The Kalahari Desert, an arid region that extends into South Africa and Botswana, is one of Namibia's well-known geographical features. The Kalahari, while popularly known as a desert, has a variety of localised environments, including some verdant and technically non-desert areas. The Succulent Karoo

1134-453: Is home to over 5,000 species of plants, nearly half of them endemic ; approximately 10 percent of the world's succulents are found in the Karoo. The reason behind this high productivity and endemism may be the relatively stable nature of precipitation. Namibia's Coastal Desert is one of the oldest deserts in the world. Its sand dunes, created by the strong onshore winds, are the highest in

1215-417: Is restricted to a few large storage dams retaining and damming up these seasonal floods and their run-off. Where people do not live near perennial rivers or make use of the storage dams, they are dependent on groundwater. Even isolated communities and those economic activities located far from good surface water sources, such as mining, agriculture, and tourism, can be supplied from groundwater over nearly 80% of

1296-576: Is significantly more productive than the Namib Desert. As summer winds are forced over the Escarpment, moisture is extracted as precipitation. The Bushveld is found in north-eastern Namibia along the Angolan border and in the Caprivi Strip. The area receives a significantly greater amount of precipitation than the rest of the country, averaging around 400 mm (16 in) per year. The area

1377-473: Is situated at the southern edge of the tropics; the Tropic of Capricorn cuts the country about in half. The winter (June – August) is generally dry. Both rainy seasons occur in summer: the small rainy season between September and November, and the big one between February and April. Humidity is low, and average rainfall varies from almost zero in the coastal desert to more than 600 mm (24 in) in

1458-641: Is the largest UN agency by expenditure, exceeding the UN's own regular budget. As of March 2020, it oversaw 81,370 personnel serving in 13 peacekeeping missions. The DPO traces its roots to 1948 with the creation of the United Nations Military Observer Group for India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) and the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO). Up to the late 1980s, peacekeeping missions were operated by six officials in

1539-510: The Department of Peacekeeping Operations ( DPKO ), it was created in 1992 as part of a restructuring of the UN's peace and security apparatus. The DPO retains the core functions and responsibilities of its predecessor, with a greater emphasis on cohesion, integrating different resources and knowledge, and promoting human rights. With an annual budget of roughly $ 6.5 billion as of 2020, the DPO

1620-559: The German Empire deployed troops to the contested places and cemented the status quo among the Nama, Oorlam, and Herero. In 1878, the Cape of Good Hope , then a British colony, annexed the port of Walvis Bay and the offshore Penguin Islands ; these became an integral part of the new Union of South Africa at its creation in 1910. The first Europeans to disembark and explore the region were

1701-677: The German government acknowledge the genocide and agreed to pay €1.1 billion over 30 years in community aid. During World War I, South African troops under General Louis Botha occupied the territory and deposed the German colonial administration. The end of the war and the Treaty of Versailles resulted in South West Africa remaining a possession of South Africa, at first as a League of Nations mandate , until 1990. The mandate system

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1782-565: The Lutheran religion among the Ovambo and Kavango people . In the late 19th century, Dorsland Trekkers crossed the area on their way from the Transvaal to Angola. Some of them settled in Namibia instead of continuing their journey. Namibia became a German colony in 1884 under Otto von Bismarck to forestall perceived British encroachment and was known as German South West Africa ( Deutsch-Südwestafrika ). The Palgrave Commission by

1863-718: The Republic of Namibia , is a country in Southern Africa . Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean . It shares land borders with Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the east and south. Although it does not border Zimbabwe , less than 200 metres (660 feet) of the Botswanan right bank of the Zambezi River separates the two countries. Its capital and largest city

1944-696: The San , Damara , and Nama . For thousands of years, the Khoisan peoples of Southern Africa maintained a nomadic life, the Khoikhoi as pastoralists and the San people as hunter-gatherers . Around the 14th century, immigrating Bantu people began to arrive during the Bantu expansion from central Africa. From the late 18th century onward, Oorlam people from Cape Colony crossed the Orange River and moved into

2025-614: The Skeleton Coast to the northwest, the Namib Desert and its coastal plains to the southwest, the Orange River to the south, and the Kalahari Desert to the east. The Central Plateau is home to the highest point in Namibia at Königstein elevation 2,606 metres (8,550 ft). The Namib is a broad expanse of hyper-arid gravel plains and dunes that stretches along Namibia's entire coastline. It varies between 100 and 200 kilometres (60 and 120 mi) in width. Areas within

2106-735: The Tripartite Accord , under pressure from both the Soviet Union and the United States. South Africa accepted Namibian independence in exchange for Cuban military withdrawal from the region and an Angolan commitment to cease all aid to PLAN. PLAN and South Africa adopted an informal ceasefire in August 1988, and a United Nations Transition Assistance Group (UNTAG) was formed to monitor the Namibian peace process and supervise

2187-500: The United Nations Security Council , peace agreements that are the result of negotiations including women are 35 percent more likely to last at least 15 years than those which are the result of men-only negotiations. At the same meeting, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres stated that women were excluded from peace processes, attacks against women human rights defenders had increased, and only

2268-513: The United States Institute of Peace (USIP). Wakugawa categorises these processes into two stages: the ceasing of armed conflict and the processes of sociological reorganisation. Non-military processes for stopping an armed conflict stage are generally classed as peacemaking . Military methods by globally organised military forces of stopping a local armed conflict are typically classed as peace enforcement . The prevention of

2349-484: The mining industry  – including mining for gem diamonds, uranium , gold , silver and base metals  – form the basis of its economy , while the manufacturing sector is comparatively small. Despite significant GDP growth since its independence, poverty and inequality remain significant in the country. 40.9% of the population is affected by multidimensional poverty , and more than 400,000 people continue to live in informal housing . Income disparity in

2430-466: The oshanas ( Oshiwambo : flood plains) there. The worst floods so far occurred in March 2011 and displaced 21,000 people. Namibia is the driest country in sub-Saharan Africa and depends largely on groundwater. With an average rainfall of about 350 mm (14 in) per annum, the highest rainfall occurs in the Caprivi Strip in the northeast (about 600 mm (24 in) per annum) and decreases in

2511-506: The African continent. In December 2014, Prime Minister Hage Geingob , the candidate of ruling SWAPO, won the presidential elections , taking 87% of the vote. His predecessor, President Hifikepunye Pohamba , also of SWAPO, had served the maximum two terms allowed by the constitution. In December 2019, President Hage Geingob was re-elected for a second term, taking 56.3% of the vote. On 4 February 2024, President Hage Geingob died and he

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2592-478: The Atlantic Ocean, which accounts for very low precipitation (50 mm (2 in) per year or less), frequent dense fog, and overall lower temperatures than in the rest of the country. In Winter, occasionally a condition known as Bergwind (German for "mountain wind") or Oosweer ( Afrikaans for "east weather") occurs, a hot dry wind blowing from the inland to the coast. As the area behind

2673-667: The British governor in Cape Town determined that only the natural deep-water harbour of Walvis Bay was worth occupying and thus annexed it to the Cape province of British South Africa. In 1897, a rinderpest epidemic caused massive cattle die-offs of an estimated 95% of cattle in southern and central Namibia. In response the German colonisers set up a veterinary cordon fence known as the Red Line . In 1907 this fence then broadly defined

2754-455: The Caprivi Strip. Rainfall is highly variable, and droughts are common. In the summer of 2006/07 the rainfall was recorded far below the annual average. In May 2019, Namibia declared a state of emergency in response to the drought, and extended it by an additional 6 months in October 2019. Weather and climate in the coastal area are dominated by the cold, north-flowing Benguela Current of

2835-455: The DPA and DPO will restructure and remove duplication of tasks, allowing for more manpower to be available for new initiates and existing operations. This gives the department more resources and responsibilities for broader peace-building efforts, which are of course by their nature linked to political analysis and strategy (Cliffe, 2018). The following is a chronological list of those who have held

2916-560: The DPKO, however, wasn't clarified until June 1992, when Boutrous-Ghali issued An Agenda for Peace , a plan to strengthen the UN's capacity for preventive diplomacy and peacekeeping. French nationals have served as Under-Secretaries-General for Peacekeeping Operations since 1997. At an October 2006 press conference, then USG Jean-Marie Guéhenno announced that peacekeeping operations had reached an all-time high, and would continue to expand as UNIFIL and UNMIT reached full strength, and if

2997-668: The Department of Peace Operations (DPO) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), African Union and European Union. One area of this reform effort has been the development of clearer internal doctrine or guidance for UN peacekeeping. The highest level DPO doctrine document was issued in 2008, known as the 'capstone' doctrine. Secretary-General Guterres has made efforts to streamline peacekeeping efforts to conserve finances, and eliminate excess and unnecessary roles. Shared regional divisions of

3078-583: The Namib include the Skeleton Coast and the Kaokoveld in the north and the extensive Namib Sand Sea along the central coast. The Great Escarpment swiftly rises to over 2,000 metres (7,000 ft). Average temperatures and temperature ranges increase further inland from the cold Atlantic waters, while the lingering coastal fogs slowly diminish. Although the area is rocky with poorly developed soils, it

3159-620: The Namibian government has promoted a policy of national reconciliation. It issued an amnesty for those who fought on either side during the liberation war. The civil war in Angola spilled over and adversely affected Namibians living in the north of the country. In 1998, Namibia Defence Force (NDF) troops were sent to the Democratic Republic of the Congo as part of a Southern African Development Community (SADC) contingent. In 1999,

3240-629: The Office of Mission Support (OMS). Included within the Office of Mission Support are the logistics and administrative divisions, which provide logistics, personnel, and financial support services to DPO missions. OMS is responsible for determining financial reimbursement to UN member states for their contribution of Contingent owned equipment , troops, and services to peacekeeping missions. Letters of Assist are an important part of this. Also part of DPO are Mine Action , Training, Best Practices, and Military and Police Divisions. A March 2007 United Nations General Assembly Resolution titled “Strengthening

3321-466: The Portuguese navigators Diogo Cão in 1485 and Bartolomeu Dias in 1486, but the Portuguese did not try to claim the area. Like most of the interior of Sub-Saharan Africa , Namibia was not extensively explored by Europeans until the 19th century. At that time traders and settlers came principally from Germany and Sweden. In 1870, Finnish missionaries came to the northern part of Namibia to spread

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3402-638: The UN General Assembly adopted a resolution proclaiming that, in accordance with the desires of its people, South West Africa be renamed Namibia . United Nations Security Council Resolution 269 , adopted in August 1969, declared South Africa's continued occupation of Namibia illegal. In recognition of this landmark decision, SWAPO's armed wing was renamed the People's Liberation Army of Namibia (PLAN). Namibia became one of several flashpoints for Cold War proxy conflicts in southern Africa during

3483-558: The UN General Assembly rejected this proposal, South Africa dismissed its opinion and began solidifying control of the territory. The UN General Assembly and Security Council responded by referring the issue to the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which held a number of discussions on the legality of South African rule between 1949 and 1966. South Africa began imposing apartheid , its codified system of racial segregation and discrimination, on South West Africa during

3564-622: The UN recognised the South West Africa People's Organisation ( SWAPO ) as the official representative of the Namibian people. Namibia gained independence from South Africa on 21 March 1990, following the South African Border War . However, Walvis Bay and the Penguin Islands remained under South African control until 1994. Namibia is a stable parliamentary democracy . Agriculture, tourism and

3645-572: The United Nations Office of Special Political Affairs, which was headed first by Under-Secretary-General Ralph Bunche , and subsequently Brian Urquhart and Marrack Goulding . From the beginning, peacekeeping operations operated with a clear doctrine that applied to its traditional or classical peacekeeping operations for inter-state ceasefires: peacekeepers did not take sides or discharge firearms, save in self-defense, or meddle in politics. The Department of Peacekeeping Operations

3726-601: The area that today is southern Namibia. Their encounters with the nomadic Nama tribes were largely peaceful. They received the missionaries accompanying the Oorlam very well, granting them the right to use waterholes and grazing against an annual payment. On their way further north, however, the Oorlam encountered clans of the OvaHerero at Windhoek, Gobabis , and Okahandja , who resisted their encroachment. The Nama-Herero War broke out in 1880, with hostilities ebbing only after

3807-581: The boundaries for the first Police Zone. From 1904 to 1907, the Herero and the Namaqua took up arms against ruthless German settlers. In a calculated punitive action by the German settlers, government officials ordered the extinction of the natives in the OvaHerero and Namaqua genocide . In what has been called the "first genocide of the 20th century", the Germans systematically killed 10,000 Nama (half

3888-551: The capacity of the Organization in Peacekeeping Operations” called for the re-structuring of the department and the establishment of a separate Department of Field Support . Whereas the new entity serves as an enabler by coordinating the administration and logistics in UN peacekeeping operations, DPO concentrates on policy planning and providing strategic directions. This re-organisation was paralleled by

3969-502: The coast is a desert, these winds can develop into sand storms, leaving sand deposits in the Atlantic Ocean that are visible on satellite images. The Central Plateau and Kalahari areas have wide diurnal temperature ranges of up to 30C (54F). Efundja , the annual seasonal flooding of the northern parts of the country, often causes not only damage to infrastructure but loss of life. The rains that cause these floods originate in Angola, flow into Namibia's Cuvelai-Etosha Basin , and fill

4050-474: The colony to South Africa. From 1948, with the National Party elected to power, this included South Africa applying apartheid to what was then known as South West Africa . In the later 20th century, uprisings and demands for political representation resulted in the United Nations assuming direct responsibility over the territory in 1966, but South Africa maintained de facto rule until 1973, when

4131-405: The constitution, or of military, police, judicial or educational institutions or of the media. Other specific elements of peace processes include exchanges , confidence-building measures , humanitarian corridors , peace treaties and transitional justice . Edward Luttwak argues that conventional wars should not be interrupted before they could burn themselves out and the preconditions for

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4212-686: The country is one of the world's highest with a Gini coefficient of 59.1 in 2015. With a population of 3,022,401 people today, Namibia is one of the most sparsely populated countries in the world. Namibia is a member state of the United Nations , the Southern African Development Community , the African Union and the Commonwealth of Nations . The name of the country is derived from the Namib desert,

4293-649: The country. More than 100,000 boreholes have been drilled in Namibia over the past century. One third of these boreholes have been drilled dry. An aquifer called Ohangwena II, on both sides of the Angola-Namibia border, was discovered in 2012. It has been estimated to be capable of supplying a population of 800,000 people in the North for 400 years, at the current (2018) rate of consumption. Experts estimate that Namibia has 7,720 km (1,850 cu mi) of underground water. According to African Folder,

4374-439: The downfall of the Herero in Namibia was a model for the Nazis in the Holocaust . The memory of what happened under German rule has contributed to shape the ethnic identity in independent Namibia and has kept its significance in today's relations with Germany. The German minister for development aid apologised for the Namibian genocide in 2004. However, the German government distanced itself from this apology. Only in 2021 did

4455-438: The fiscal year 1 July 2021 - 30 June 2022 amounted for $ 6.38 billion. This amount financed 10 of the 12 ongoing UN peacekeeping missions , along the liquidation of the UN African Union Hybrid Operation in Darfur ( UNAMID ) and logistics support for the African Union Mission in Somalia ( AMISOM ), providing the technology, logistics and general support to all peace operations through global service centres in Brindisi ( Italy ) and

4536-434: The last South African troops had been withdrawn from Namibia, all political prisoners granted amnesty, racially discriminatory legislation repealed, and 42,000 Namibian refugees returned to their homes. Just over 97% of eligible voters participated in the country's first parliamentary elections held under a universal franchise . The United Nations plan included oversight by foreign election observers in an effort to ensure

4617-483: The late 1940s. Black South West Africans were subject to pass laws , curfews, and a host of residential regulations that restricted their movement. Development was concentrated in the southern region of the territory adjacent to South Africa, known as the " Police Zone ", where most of the major settlements and commercial economic activity were located. Outside the Police Zone, indigenous peoples were restricted to theoretically self-governing tribal homelands . During

4698-461: The late 1950s and early 1960s, the accelerated decolonisation of Africa and mounting pressure on the remaining colonial powers to grant their colonies self-determination resulted in the formation of nascent nationalist parties in South West Africa. Movements such as the South West African National Union (SWANU) and the South West African People's Organisation (SWAPO) advocated for the formal termination of South Africa's mandate and independence for

4779-461: The latter years of the PLAN insurgency. The insurgents sought out weapons and sent recruits to the Soviet Union for military training. As the PLAN war effort gained momentum, the Soviet Union and other sympathetic states such as Cuba continued to increase their support, deploying advisers to train the insurgents directly as well as supplying more weapons and ammunition. SWAPO's leadership, dependent on Soviet, Angolan, and Cuban military aid, positioned

4860-401: The least rainfall of any country in sub-Saharan Africa. The Namibian landscape consists generally of five geographical areas, each with characteristic abiotic conditions and vegetation, with some variation within and overlap between them: the Central Plateau, the Namib, the Great Escarpment , the Bushveld , and the Kalahari Desert. The Central Plateau runs from north to south, bordered by

4941-456: The mandate as a veiled annexation and made no attempt to prepare South West Africa for future autonomy. As a result of the Conference on International Organization in 1945, the League of Nations was formally superseded by the United Nations (UN) and former League mandates by a trusteeship system. Article 77 of the United Nations Charter stated that UN trusteeship "shall apply...to territories now held under mandate"; furthermore, it would "be

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5022-463: The movement firmly within the socialist bloc by 1975. This practical alliance reinforced the external perception of SWAPO as a Soviet proxy, which dominated Cold War rhetoric in South Africa and the United States. For its part, the Soviet Union supported SWAPO partly because it viewed South Africa as a regional Western ally. Growing war weariness and the reduction of tensions between the superpowers compelled South Africa, Angola, and Cuba to accede to

5103-490: The national assembly). The country officially became independent on 21 March 1990. Sam Nujoma was sworn in as the first President of Namibia at a ceremony attended by Nelson Mandela of South Africa (who had been released from prison the previous month) and representatives from 147 countries, including 20 heads of state. In 1994, shortly before the first multiracial elections in South Africa, that country ceded Walvis Bay to Namibia. Since independence Namibia has completed

5184-440: The national government quashed a secessionist attempt in the northeastern Caprivi Strip . The Caprivi conflict was initiated by the Caprivi Liberation Army (CLA), a rebel group led by Mishake Muyongo . It wanted the Caprivi Strip to secede and form its own society. In 2007, Twyfelfontein was inscribed as a cultural UNESCO World Heritage Site , a prehistoric site with one of the largest concentrations of rock engravings on

5265-505: The oldest desert in the world. The word Namib itself is of Nama origin and means "vast place". The name was chosen by Mburumba Kerina , who originally proposed "Republic of Namib". Before Namibia became independent in 1990, its territory was known first as German South-West Africa ( Deutsch-Südwestafrika ), and then as South West Africa , reflecting its colonial occupation by Germans and South Africans, respectively. The dry lands of Namibia have been inhabited since prehistoric times by

5346-456: The phases of various peace process mechanisms blurring and overlapping in practice. The construction of international institutions, especially during the twentieth century, has to a large degree been motivated by the desire to provide a broad global context of peacebuilding. That includes the League of Nations and the United Nations and regional institutions such as the European Union . Institutions involved in encouraging or overseeing some of

5427-526: The population) and approximately 65,000 Herero (about 80% of the population). The survivors, when finally released from detention, were subjected to a policy of dispossession, deportation, forced labour, racial segregation, and discrimination in a system that in many ways foreshadowed the apartheid established by South Africa in 1948. Most Africans were confined to so-called native territories, which under South African rule after 1949 were turned into "homelands" ( Bantustans ). Some historians have speculated that

5508-421: The position of Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations: The bulk of peacekeeping operations funding is appropriated much like the general budget , but permanent members of the Security Council are required to pay a larger share, and all states are free to contribute additional funding, equipment, or other services to missions of their respective choices. UN Peacekeeping Operations budget for

5589-564: The repeat of a solved conflict (as well as the preventing of an armed conflict from occurring at all) is usually classed as peacebuilding . UNDPO defines peacebuilding to include "measures [that] address core issues that effect the functioning of society and the State". The use of neutral military forces to sustain ceasefires during this phase, typically by United Nations peacekeeping forces , can be referred to as peacekeeping . The terms peacemaking , peacekeeping and peacebuilding tend to be used broadly, with their meanings defined in terms of

5670-419: The repeat of a solved conflict as peacebuilding . For peace processes to resolve an armed conflict, Izumi Wakugawa , advisor to the Japan-based International Peace Cooperation Program , suggests a definition of a peace process as "a mixture of politics, diplomacy, changing relationships, negotiation, mediation, and dialogue in both official and unofficial arenas", which he attributes to Harold H. Saunders of

5751-412: The return of refugees. The ceasefire was broken after PLAN made a final incursion into the territory, possibly as a result of misunderstanding UNTAG's directives, in March 1989. A new ceasefire was later imposed with the condition that the insurgents were to be confined to their external bases in Angola until they could be disarmed and demobilised by UNTAG. By the end of the 11-month transition period,

5832-725: The steps in specific peace processes include the United Nations Department of Peace Operations . The Peace Accords Matrix of the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies at the University of Notre Dame , United States , uses the term "provisions" to describe specific elements of peace processes in intrastate conflicts. This includes a list of 51 different elements, including amnesties ; ceasefires ; arms embargoes ; releases of political prisoners ; truth and reconciliation commissions ; and reforms of

5913-562: The striking workers would later join SWAPO's PLAN as part of the South African Border War. As SWAPO's insurgency intensified, South Africa's case for annexation in the international community continued to decline. The UN declared that South Africa had failed in its obligations to ensure the moral and material well-being of South West Africa's indigenous inhabitants, and had thus disavowed its own mandate. On 12 June 1968,

5994-523: The territory, forming a colony known as German South West Africa . Between 1904 and 1908, German troops waged a punitive campaign against the Herero and Nama which escalated into the first genocide of the 20th century. German rule ended during the First World War with a 1915 defeat by South African forces. In 1920, after the end of the war, the League of Nations mandated administration of

6075-450: The territory. In 1966, following the ICJ's controversial ruling that it had no legal standing to consider the question of South African rule, SWAPO launched an armed insurgency that escalated into part of a wider regional conflict known as the South African Border War . In 1971 Namibian contract workers led a general strike against the contract system and in support of independence. Some of

6156-620: The transition from white minority apartheid rule to parliamentary democracy. Multiparty democracy was introduced and has been maintained, with local, regional and national elections held regularly. Several registered political parties are active and represented in the National Assembly, although the SWAPO has won every election since independence. The transition from the 15-year rule of President Nujoma to his successor Hifikepunye Pohamba in 2005 went smoothly. Since independence,

6237-460: The western escarpment ) to the Hyper-Arid coastal plain [less than 100 mm (4 in)]. Temperature maxima are limited by the overall elevation of the entire region: only in the far south, Warmbad for instance, are maxima above 40 °C (104 °F) recorded. Typically the sub-Tropical High Pressure Belt, with frequent clear skies, provides more than 300 days of sunshine per year. It

6318-578: The world. Because of the location of the shoreline, at the point where the Atlantic's cold water reaches Africa's hot climate, often extremely dense fog forms along the coast. Near the coast there are areas where the dune-hummocks are vegetated. Namibia has rich coastal and marine resources that remain largely unexplored. The Caprivi Strip extends east from the northeastern corner of the country. Namibia has 13 cities, governed by municipalities and 26 towns, governed by town councils. The capital Windhoek

6399-524: Was created in March 1992 when Boutros Boutros-Ghali took office as Secretary-General of the United Nations; its creation was one of his first decisions. In organisational terms, it upgraded and expanded upon the work of the previous Field Administration and Logistics Division (FALD) (which remained active as a subordinate department). Goulding became under-secretary-general (or USG) for peacekeeping with Kofi Annan appointed as his deputy. The role of

6480-499: Was formed as a compromise between those who advocated for an Allied annexation of former German and Ottoman territories and a proposition put forward by those who wished to grant them to an international trusteeship until they could govern themselves. It permitted the South African government to administer South West Africa until that territory's inhabitants were prepared for political self-determination. South Africa interpreted

6561-459: Was immediately succeeded by vice-president Nangolo Mbumba as new President of Namibia. At 825,615 km (318,772 sq mi), Namibia is the world's thirty-fourth largest country (after Venezuela). It lies mostly between latitudes 17° and 29°S (a small area is north of 17°), and longitudes 11° and 26°E . Being situated between the Namib and the Kalahari deserts, Namibia has

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