The United Nations Institute for Namibia (UNIN) was an educational body set up by the

United Nations Council for Namibia United Nations Commissioner for South West Africa was a post created by the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in 1966 to assert the UN's direct responsibility for South West Africa which was then under illegal occupation by apartheid South Af ...

from 1976 to 1990. Based in

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most central point. Its neighbours are t ...

's capital of Lusaka, UNIN was the brainchild of

United Nations Commissioner for Namibia United Nations Commissioner for South West Africa was a post created by the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in 1966 to assert the UN's direct responsibility for South West Africa which was then under illegal occupation by apartheid South Af ...

Seán MacBride Seán MacBride (26 January 1904 – 15 January 1988) was an Irish Clann na Poblachta politician who served as Minister for External Affairs from 1948 to 1951, Leader of Clann na Poblachta from 1946 to 1965 and Chief of Staff of the IRA from 19 ...

, the proposal creating UNIN was adopted by the

United Nations General Assembly The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; french: link=no, Assemblée générale, AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as the main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ of the UN. Curr ...

in December 1974.A Future 'University of Namibia'?: The Role of the United Nations Institute for Namibia
by Christian M. Rogerson, 1980,

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press is the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it is the oldest university press in the world. It is also the King's Printer. Cambridge University Pre ...

The forerunner to the current

University of Namibia The University of Namibia (UNAM) is a multi-campus public research university in Namibia, as well as the largest university in the country. It was established by an act of Parliament on 31 August 1992. Background UNAM comprises the follow ...

, UNIN sought to educate Namibians for roles in an independent Republic of Namibia.

Background

As states across Africa achieved independence, Namibia remained illegally ruled by

Apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

. Treated as a fifth province, Namibia did not have its own tertiary educational system. Bantu Education, or purposely inferior education for Black Namibians, was the norm

education in Namibia Education in Namibia is compulsory for 10 years between the ages of 6 and 16. ''This article incorporates text from this source which is in the public domain. There are approximately 1900 schools in Namibia of which 100 are privately owned. Nami ...

for Black Namibians. The United Nations Council for Namibia under Seán MacBride put forth a plan in February 1974 for a tertiary educational institution for Namibia in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

, preferably Zambia. On 26 August 1976 ( Namibian Heroes' Day),

President of Zambia The president of Zambia is the head of state and the head of government of Zambia. The office was first held by Kenneth Kaunda following independence in 1964. Since 1991, when Kaunda left the presidency, the office has been held by seven othe ...

Kenneth Kaunda Kenneth David Kaunda (28 April 1924 – 17 June 2021), also known as KK, was a Zambian politician who served as the first President of Zambia from 1964 to 1991. He was at the forefront of the struggle for independence from British rule. Diss ...

formally inaugurated the institute in Lusaka.

Funding

Funding for UNIN was provided for, on a short-term basis, by the United Nations Fund for Namibia, itself funded by individual government donations and private organizations such as the

Ford Foundation The Ford Foundation is an American private foundation with the stated goal of advancing human welfare. Created in 1936 by Edsel Ford and his father Henry Ford, it was originally funded by a US$25,000 gift from Edsel Ford. By 1947, after the death ...

Since independence

Closing in September 1990 (6 months after formal independence was achieved), UNIN's files have been transferred to the archival unit at the University of Namibia.

Notable people affiliated with the United Nations Institute for Namibia

Martti Ahtisaari Martti Oiva Kalevi Ahtisaari (; born 23 June 1937) is a Finnish politician, the tenth president of Finland (1994–2000), a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, and a United Nations diplomat and mediator noted for his international peace work. Ahtisa ...

, member of the Senate of UNIN from 1975 to 1976;

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

politician and diplomat *

Hage Geingob Hage Gottfried Geingob (born 3 August 1941) is a Namibian politician, serving as the third president of Namibia since 21 March 2015. Geingob was the first Prime Minister of Namibia from 1990 to 2002, and served as prime minister again from 201 ...

, founding director from 1975 to 1989,

President of Namibia The president of the Republic of Namibia is the head of state and the head of government of Namibia. The president directs the executive branch of the Government of Namibia, as chair of the Cabinet and is the commander-in-chief of the armed fo ...

* Petrus Damaseb, High Court Judge, CAF and FIFA official *

Kalla Gertze Reinhard "Kalla" Gertze (1960 – 13 March 2008) was a Namibian university lecturer and parliamentarian as a member of the Congress of Democrats (CoD) party. He was in the National Assembly of Namibia, National Assembly from 2005 until his death in ...

, student and future

Congress of Democrats The Congress of Democrats (CoD) is a Namibian opposition party without representation in the National Assembly and led by Ben Ulenga. It was established in 1999, prior to that year's general elections, and started off with a number of notabl ...

MP *

Tsudao Gurirab Tsudao Immanuel Gurirab (born 2 January 1961) is a Namibian politician. A member of Congress of Democrats (CoD), Gurirab was previously a member of the ruling South West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO) until he alongside Ben Ulenga, Ignatius ...

, earned diploma in Management and Development Studies in 1982, future

MP *

Hidipo Hamutenya Hidipo Livius Hamutenya (17 June 1939 – 6 October 2016) was a Namibian politician. A long time leading member of the South West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO), Hamutenya was a member of the Cabinet of Namibia from independence in 1990 to ...

, founding member, deputy director and head of the history and political science department from 1976 to 1981; founding member of opposition party Rally for Democracy and Progress (RDP) *

Albert Kawana Albert Kawana (born 26 March 1956) is a Namibian politician. A member of SWAPO, Kawana has been a member of the National Assembly and cabinet since 2000, serving in various positions. Since April 2021 he is minister of Home Affairs, Immigrat ...

, earned diploma in management and development studies in 1979, future SWAPO MP and prominent cabinet member beginning in 2000 * Nangula Mbako, obtained a diploma in development studies and management in 1986; permanent secretary in the Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources of Namibia since April 2000 *

Ngarikutuke Tjiriange Ngarikutuke Ernest Tjiriange (12 July 1943 – 23 June 2021) was a Namibian politician, a member of the National Assembly and former secretary-general of the ruling SWAPO Party. He also served in the Namibian cabinet from 1990 to 2010, first as ...

, assistant professor from 1977 to 1982; Minister for Veteran's Affairs of Namibia * Inge Zaamwani, 1981 graduate in development studies, managing director of Namdeb mining venture since 1999.Inge Zaamwani
at the Namibia Institute for Democracy * Martin Andjaba, longest serving Namibian Permanent Representative to the United Nations, and current Namibian Ambassador to the Federal Republic of Germany.

References

{{Authority control Education in Namibia University of Namibia Education in Lusaka Namibia–Zambia relations Educational institutions established in 1974 Educational institutions disestablished in 1990 1974 establishments in Africa 1990 disestablishments in Africa 1970s in Zambia 1980s in Zambia 20th century in Lusaka 20th century in Namibia