21 November 2008
Outgoing Swedish Charge d'Affaires Lena Johansson Blomstrand has had a long-standing relationship with liberation movements in southern Africa.
As a section head at the Swedish International Development Agency (Sida) from the second half of the 1980s, she visited and spent time in refugee camps dotted across the subcontinent, pursuing the kind of work she loves and building ties and solidarity with the ANC and Swapo in exile before these movements became political parties and governments.
She leaves Namibia after two-and-a-half years as mission head and returns to Sweden to become the director of the Capacity Building Institute for Development Co-operation in Haernoesand, about 400km north of Stockholm.
In a wide-ranging interview with The Namibian's senior editor, Na-iem Dollie, Blomstrand spoke about economics, her country and her experiences in Namibia.
The Namibian (TN): When did you come to Namibia? Lena Blomstrand (LB): I was posted in 2006.
My experience of the country is that it is the best kept secret in Africa.
It is very clean and very pleasant.
I know that repression was severe under apartheid, not least because the population is so small, but while there is still that legacy, much has changed.
TN: What were the high points in your stay here? LB: I can't really point to any specific event.
But politically, I have had great access to the government and I've always felt welcome when meeting ministers.
I've also been able to travel around the country.
Visiting important sites and moving around outside Windhoek have been highlight for me as well.
TN: What made you enter foreign affairs? LB: My employment is actually basically with our development agency, Sida.
After my work on refugees and visiting camps such as Kwanza Sul and Viana in Angola, Solomon Mahlangu in Tanzania and Nyango in Zambia, I continued and opened the Sida office in South Africa in 1991.
TN: Do you have any disappointments during your stay in Namibia? LB: I don't have any serious or heavy disappointments.
But I do think that Namibia faces onerous challenges, especially around issues such as the unequal distribution of wealth in the country.
I know that there are no clear-cut answers to addressing this, but it's arguably the country's most pressing problem.
When you travel around the country, poverty screams at you.
In all countres, Namibia as well as Sweden, The political elite must acknowledge and see the necessity of a fair distribution of wealth.
You will never have a lasting development if you don't include the whole population.
If Namibia does not address the burning issues of poverty reduction, the future looks bleak.
TN: Why did you close down the embassy in Windhoek? LB: When we opened our mission here in 1990, we said that we'll be here for 15 years.
We stayed three years after initial time frame.
We closed the office because as a small country, our foreign ministry also faced fiscal constraints and we had to rationalise our operations.
My government also felt that we needed to strengthen our ties with other countries such as Afghanistan, Sudan and Liberia.
TN: Sweden's associations and solidarity with liberation movements in Africa are well known internationally.
Your country has supported these movements through thick and thin when they launched struggles against colonialism and apartheid.
However, I've found that people here have tended to forget these ties that bind your country to what is happening today in Namibia.
What are your views on this? LB: I partly agree with you.
If we look back solidarity was the basis of our co-operation with Swapo.
We wanted to make our contribution when it comes to creating a secure world, but then there is the stubborn fact that changes are inevitable when liberation movements turn into political parties.
Acknowledgement of the role of Sweden, the Nordic countries, the United Nations is of course as important for the history of Namibia as it is for Sweden in our roles as global players.
However it takes two to tango and while we will continue to support development in Namibia and promote mutually beneficial business ties, we must also acknowledge that the relationship between us and Namibia has changed.
TN: What has always impressed me about Swedish assistance is the humility that has always accompanied it.
Namibia today, as you say, faces many challenges.
What would your advice be to the country's policy makers on uranium, economic partnership agreements (EPAs) with the European Union (EU), and development work? LB: On uranium, don't ignore the voices of civil society.
If we care about our children's future, and their children's future, a nuclear environment is an environmental disaster.
In Sweden, we closed down one of our nuclear facilities because the government listened to its people.
On EPAs, I'm not an expert on the subject, but it is my personal belief that it is in Namibia's interest to enter into these agreements, of course on fair terms.
While there are problems that need to be sorted out and issues to be discussed, Namibia would most probably face economic difficulties if you don´t enter these deals.
On development, the notion of poverty eradication has to be translated into real action-oriented development on the ground.
A positive mind-set means that poor people need access to resources and opportunities need to be created for the poor to actively be engaged in economic activity.
Social development and a culture of creativity must be a part of a developing mind-set.
But you have to start with the children.
Personally, I also think that the issue of a free flow of information and transparency is crucial when it comes to development.
People need to be informed what is happening and information needs to be out in the public domain so that it can be tackled, not least corruption.
It is only through information and new ways of thinking that you release the necessary creativity in society.
People and governments, not only in Namibia, tend to hold on to information because they know that information is power, which in the long run is devastating for any development.
TN: Your parting remarks? LB: I think there's always a sadness when embassies close and as Swedes we will miss the close dialogue that we've had with the government here, even though the dialogue will continue via our embassy in South Africa.
On a personal note, this country has been fantastic to me as a tourist.
I will be returning to your country.
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