Namibia, anticipation of economic and humanitarian needs : the education of refugees in Zimbabwe and Namibia

Southern Africa has seen considerable movement of refugees in recent years, particularly from areas dominated by white minority governments. By mid-1976, the United Nation High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) reported 25,000 Zimbabwean refugees in Mozambique. An estimated 2,500 refugees from Zimbabwe, Namibia, and South Africa have asked for asylum in Botswana. Highly educated persons from Southern Africa can be found on the faculties of a number of universities in West and East Africa. There is an assumption that the dispersed academic talent will return to an independent country, in many instances. Refugees from Southern Africa are also found in Zambia, Swaziland, Lesotho, Benin, the Gambia, Ghana, the Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Nigeria, Niger, Sierra Leone, Togo and Upper Volta. The UNHCR is a cooperative agency depending on the cooperation of governments of the host countries and missions or other voluntary agencies with which the host countries may wish to work. Institutions providing education for Namibians preparing for the independence of their country include the UN Institute for Namibia in Lusaka and Nkumbi International College in Zambia. Alumni listings indicate that 306 Zimbabwe and 46 Namibian students have earned diplomas, certificates, or degrees in economics, business, biology, education, chemistry, agriculture, public administration, medicine, mathematics, law, social work, industrial arts, and other academic disciplines. The emphasis of training for refugees has been on literacy, secondary education, and higher education, with little organized effort to develop persons trained in the skilled trades. There is an urgent need for training programs in these skills which are not now available to African workers in Zimbabwe and Namibia.