On April 18, 2016, The Minister of Rural and Urban Development, Sophia Shaningwa, together with the Deputy Chief of Mission (DCM) at the United States Embassy, John Kowalski, handed over certificates to five newly trained Namibian rescue instructors and 132 other emergency response personnel, in Windhoek. The RESPOND training program, which was funded with US$700,000 by the United States Agency for International Development's (USAID) Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) was implemented by Rescue South Africa and trained a total of 316 Namibians in emergency response management. 

"All of you are heros and your contribution will be evident as you train others to respond to disaster, to save lives and to enable Namibia to continue to prosper," highlighted the Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy, John Kowalski in his remarks. He further thanked the Namibian government and her response staff for their unwavering dedication to the RESPOND initiative, which forms part of a US$23 million Disaster Risk Reduction Program supported by the United States government. 

Also in attendance at the event was the First Secretary of the Japanese Embassy, Ms. Kaoru Yokotani, and the Chief of the Emergency Management Division, Raymond Kapia. The ceremony took place at the Windhoek Fire Department headquarters and was witnessed by approximately 100 people, most of whom belonged to the Namibian capital's emergency response units.