After independence.

United Nations involvement in Namibia is not over yet. Until independence is attained, the Organization's transition team in Windhoek may have to deal with a daunting array of issues, ranging from the re-organization of the South West Africa Broadcasting Corporation to supervising possible recruitment of some 2,000 new SWAPOL members.

Aid programmes for the transition period have already been prepared by half a dozen UN organizations. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is taking steps to set up a new central bank, and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has created an international trust fund to meet most urgent needs.

Arrangements are being made to recruit Namibian teachers, doctors, veterinarians, airport personnel and other civilian staff to replace South African military personnel now performing those vital tasks. Any remaining gaps will be filled by internationally recruited personnel.

Secretary-General Perez de Cuellar announced on 3 November that a comprehensive UN economic programme for Namibia would be prepared in close co-operation with the competent local authorities, and an international appeal for aid launched.

Such aid will be needed to cover the government budget deficit resulting from the expected withdrawal of South Africa's subsidy. (In 1989, South Africa provided 18 per cent of the total Namibian government revenue.) Aid will also be needed to improve education, housing and other social infrastructure.

"While Namibia's economic infrastructure is relatively well developed, it has been biased towards a commercial sector which catered to the needs of the colonial administration", according to the UN Department of Technical Cooperation for Development.

That situation provoked "severe imbalances in the provision of social services for the underprivileged sectors of the population and of support services for rural areas", particularly in the northern regions of Ovamboland and Okavango where more than 40 per cent of Namibians live.

Overcoming the colonial legacy and ensuring equitable economic and social development will be the newly independent country's biggest task.

The ratio of white to black incomes is a staggering 25 to 1; almost 60 per cent of the land, especially the best farm land, is owned by whites, who are less than 10 per cent of Namibia's population; and more than 80 per cent of all Namibian wage-earners live below the $94-a-month subsistence level.

A UNICEF study, Children on the Front Line, found that 70 per cent of black Namibians are illiterate and up to half of all black children are malnourished.

It has been reported that industry is dominated by South African and transnational firms which export most of their profits and dividends, rein sting very little.

But Namibia is rich in mineral deposits, with great potential for fisheries and livestock raising. The current climate of national conciliation and political goodwill may help. Already, De Beers, a South African firm which owns Consolidated Diamond Mines in Namibia, has announced plans to develop two more diamond deposits after independence.

Cuban withdrawal

continues

Withdrawal of Cuban troops from Angola is proceeding on schedule, according to military observer teams of the United Nations Angola Verification Mission (UNAVEM). More than 9,500 Cubans left between 1 August and 31 October 1989, bringing the total withdrawal to more than 25,000. Also, by 1 November, all Cuban troops had been redeployed north of the adjusted 13th parallel.