ACCRA, Ghana (PAMACC News) - Extreme weather is becoming commonplace as the world warms. With rising temperatures, the signs of climate change are everywhere – as more people feel the devastating impacts of stronger storms, droughts and burning heat waves.
Indeed, excessive floods are wreaking havoc on people’s lives around the world.
In the last few weeks alone, Cyclone Idai has impacted the lives of millions, killing more than 1,000 in Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe. The affected countries will need over $2 billion to recover, according to World Bank estimates.
Even before the affected receive support, cyclone Kenneth is making a dangerously unprecedented strike in Northern Mozambique.
The economics of climate change is staggering. In 2017 alone, natural disasters – from floods to fires – caused record losses of $330 billion.
The need for people to take bold action in response to the devastation is now louder than before.
When local people are hardest hit
Saturday, July 14, 2018 went down as a solemn day at the Asokore Mampong community in Ghana’s Ashanti region.
Tears flowed uncontrollably as the mortal remains of three children and a woman, all victims of floods, were conveyed for burial after an emotionally-charged requiem service.
A day after torrential rains, the bodies of Christian, Louisa, Liza and Susana were recovered by officers of the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO).
The four were among more than 15 people in the region who were swept away by high currents of flood water, following incessant downpour in June 2018.
The situation was dire in other parts of Ghana, including the capital, Accra, which experience perennial flood disasters.
Questions have been asked if such deaths could have been averted. But the rains will not wait for answers before resuming the onslaught in 2019.
Severe rainstorms in the month of April alone have wrecked havoc in parts of Ghana, killing people and displacing hundreds in schools, homes and communities.
Unabated Flood Devastation
In years past, the sign of rains brought joy as children had fun bathing in the heavenly showers of blessings.
Today, many a community in major cities in Ghana begins to panic when the clouds get dark. People run for cover when the clouds gather for fear of losing lives and property to the rains.
Floods have ravaged communities, caused havoc to roads and collapsed bridges. Residents have been displaced, communities cut off, and socio-economic livelihoods impacted negatively.
The worse impacted are farmers – some farms in lowland areas get submerged in high volumes of flood water, after a downpour. Instead of counting their blessings of bumper harvest, farmers wail because they are unable to cart their harvests from farmlands to the market because of bad roads.
The Ghana Meteorological Agency anticipates more rainstorms and floods in 2019, and has warned farmers and residents in flood prone communities to stay alert.
There are likely agricultural losses with dire food security implications, as prices of foodstuff like maize, cassava, plantain and vegetables shoot up on the local market.
Driving Factors
Recent rains in Kumasi have been described as ‘unprecedented’ by residents. Streets and homes have been inundated as vehicles, houses and other property are submerged.
The blocking of drains and canals has been identified as the immediate cause of flooding. Indiscriminate dumping of refuse, especially plastics, blocks the drains and prevents water from running through the drainages and waterways.
Another major cause of flooding is the indiscriminate construction of buildings on waterways and wetland.
Runoff water needs to find space when the ground cannot absorb the rains. With structures sitting on waterways and the ground not able to contain the excess water, flooding is bound to occur.
These flood risks are exacerbated by climate change. Unfortunately, flood-prone communities cannot access accurate flood information to stay alert to stay safe from the floods.
Building Resilient Urban Eco-System
According to experts, rainfall patterns have been distorted leading to variation in the amount of rain. Parts of the country are likely to experience flooding due to a shift in rainfall pattern caused by climate change.
In recent days, local authorities have taken steps to dredge drainage systems and construct storm drains to reduce the impact of water overflow.
However, the effective management of solid waste and enforcement of laws on environmental sanitation are as critical as investing in green infrastructure.
The bigger picture, perhaps, is for local economies to efficiently manage the built environment in anticipation of future climate impacts. The construction of roads, bridges and other infrastructure must take into consideration extreme weather conditions.
The need for climate resilience in planning the urban eco-system should also take into consideration investments in climate-smart construction materials and technologies, while restoring and creating attractive landscapes, creating room for floodwaters by removing silt and restoring marshy riverine.
There should also be the concerted drive to create more awareness around the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and human activities that adversely predispose the environment to degradation. Both State and Non-State actors should have the capacity to identify, create and implement actionable solutions to adapt to climate change.
Afforestation and agroforestry are major entry points to combat climate change and its impact on the environment, hence the need for communities to join forces with State actors in committing to initiate tree planting projects to re-green the environment.
The world must take climate action through the implementing the Paris Climate Agreement by cutting greenhouse gas emissions to slow the speed of global warming.
But communities in vulnerable economies like Ghana cannot delay in taking adaptation measures to curtail the devastating impacts of climate change.
AMMREN PRESS STATEMENT: World Malaria Day
The celebration of World Malaria Day today, is another opportunity for stock taking of global efforts to win the war against the world’s oldest and deadliest disease. Since 2000, a lot of efforts have been made to eliminate malaria, a disease that can be prevented and treated. Global efforts have saved 7 million lives from malaria and prevented more than 1 billion cases. More countries than ever before, are now are closer to elimination.
These gains, however, do not appear to be holding as current report shows that new malaria cases are on the rise in the highest burden countries. The 2017, World Health Organization (WHO) showed the largest reversal of progress against malaria in years, estimating 5 million more cases than in the previous year. According to the WHO, progress has stalled after a decade of success against the disease. Half a million people still die from malaria every year, most of them children under five. Africa carries more than 90% of the global malaria burden, causing over 400,000 deaths and 200 million cases each year and costing the continent an estimated US$ 12 billion annually in direct losses.
Many reasons have been attributed to change in fortunes in the fight against malaria, notable among them, being stagnation from traditional sources for funding for malaria and lack of political will. The African Media and Malaria Research Network (AMMREN), while acknowledging that efforts are being made to raise funds for the malaria elimination agenda, notes that there is also an urgent need for education to get people to take personal responsibility for malaria prevention and treatment. The 2019 World Malaria Day theme “Zero Malaria Starts with Me” is apt, as it is a call to action.
It reminds citizens everywhere, and particularly in malaria burdened countries, that they not only have personal responsibility in protecting their families, communities and countries from this preventable disease, but also the power to hold leaders accountable for meeting their commitments to end the disease.
“Zero Malaria Starts with Me” is also a continent-wide campaign for a malaria-free Africa. Co-led by the African Union Commission and the RBM Partnership to End Malaria, the campaign will support African nations in their efforts toward malaria elimination through: high-level engagement with government, the private sector, and civil society leaders; The "Zero malaria starts with me" campaign aims to engage all members of society: political leaders who control government policy decisions and budgets; private sector companies that will benefit from a malaria-free workforce; healthcare providers working towards controlling and eliminating malaria and most importantly communities affected by malaria, whose buy-in and ownership of malaria control interventions is critical to success.
Specifically, the Zero Malaria Starts with Me campaign focuses on three groups of stakeholders critical to a sustainable and ultimately successful fight against the disease: political leaders, the private sector, and communities. Each group has a unique yet complementary role in the fight. The campaign seeks to identify each group’s interest in malaria elimination and unite them for action towards a shared vision So far only 5 African countries, namely, Mozambique, Senegal, Uganda, Niger and Zambia have joined the Zero
Malaria movement.Ghana and a few others are expected to join this pivotal global moment soon.
AMMREN believes that the “Zero Malaria Starts with Me” campaign cannot succeed, without a clear commitment to the course by stakeholders. Governments must provide the needed funds for malaria prevention, control and elimination. There is no reason why existing tools such as treated mosquito nets and new ones like innovative antimalarials, vaccines, including the forthcoming roll out of RTS,S vaccine also known as mosquirix, genetically engineered mosquitoes, new methods of vector control cannot accelerate progress
toward ending malaria.
In April 2018, 53 leaders of the Commonwealth committed to halve malaria cases and deaths in the Commonwealth by 2023. The African Union has also developed a Catalytic Framework to End AIDS, TB, and Eliminate Malaria in Africa by 2030 that sets ambitious targets for eliminating malaria. AMMREN hopes the governments will follow through on their commitments this time.
AMMREN is calling on the 10 African countries, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Mali, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Tanzania and Uganda, labelled as the malaria highest burden countries must step up efforts to tackle the disease. Clearly ownership of the challenge lies in their hands of countries most affected by malaria. Community empowerment is also critical to support grassroots engagement to achieve a malaria free world.
The time for decisive action is now. Malaria can be defeated. Together we can win the war against malaria
AMMREN PRESS STATEMENT: World Malaria Day
The celebration of World Malaria Day today, is another opportunity for stock taking of global efforts to win the war against the world’s oldest and deadliest disease. Since 2000, a lot of efforts have been made to eliminate malaria, a disease that can be prevented and treated. Global efforts have saved 7 million lives from malaria and prevented more than 1 billion cases. More countries than ever before, are now are closer to elimination.
These gains, however, do not appear to be holding as current report shows that new malaria cases are on the rise in the highest burden countries. The 2017, World Health Organization (WHO) showed the largest reversal of progress against malaria in years, estimating 5 million more cases than in the previous year. According to the WHO, progress has stalled after a decade of success against the disease. Half a million people still die from malaria every year, most of them children under five. Africa carries more than 90% of the global malaria burden, causing over 400,000 deaths and 200 million cases each year and costing the continent an estimated US$ 12 billion annually in direct losses.
Many reasons have been attributed to change in fortunes in the fight against malaria, notable among them, being stagnation from traditional sources for funding for malaria and lack of political will. The African Media and Malaria Research Network (AMMREN), while acknowledging that efforts are being made to raise funds for the malaria elimination agenda, notes that there is also an urgent need for education to get people to take personal responsibility for malaria prevention and treatment. The 2019 World Malaria Day theme “Zero Malaria Starts with Me” is apt, as it is a call to action.
It reminds citizens everywhere, and particularly in malaria burdened countries, that they not only have personal responsibility in protecting their families, communities and countries from this preventable disease, but also the power to hold leaders accountable for meeting their commitments to end the disease.
“Zero Malaria Starts with Me” is also a continent-wide campaign for a malaria-free Africa. Co-led by the African Union Commission and the RBM Partnership to End Malaria, the campaign will support African nations in their efforts toward malaria elimination through: high-level engagement with government, the private sector, and civil society leaders; The "Zero malaria starts with me" campaign aims to engage all members of society: political leaders who control government policy decisions and budgets; private sector companies that will benefit from a malaria-free workforce; healthcare providers working towards controlling and eliminating malaria and most importantly communities affected by malaria, whose buy-in and ownership of malaria control interventions is critical to success.
Specifically, the Zero Malaria Starts with Me campaign focuses on three groups of stakeholders critical to a sustainable and ultimately successful fight against the disease: political leaders, the private sector, and communities. Each group has a unique yet complementary role in the fight. The campaign seeks to identify each group’s interest in malaria elimination and unite them for action towards a shared vision So far only 5 African countries, namely, Mozambique, Senegal, Uganda, Niger and Zambia have joined the Zero
Malaria movement.Ghana and a few others are expected to join this pivotal global moment soon.
AMMREN believes that the “Zero Malaria Starts with Me” campaign cannot succeed, without a clear commitment to the course by stakeholders. Governments must provide the needed funds for malaria prevention, control and elimination. There is no reason why existing tools such as treated mosquito nets and new ones like innovative antimalarials, vaccines, including the forthcoming roll out of RTS,S vaccine also known as mosquirix, genetically engineered mosquitoes, new methods of vector control cannot accelerate progress
toward ending malaria.
In April 2018, 53 leaders of the Commonwealth committed to halve malaria cases and deaths in the Commonwealth by 2023. The African Union has also developed a Catalytic Framework to End AIDS, TB, and Eliminate Malaria in Africa by 2030 that sets ambitious targets for eliminating malaria. AMMREN hopes the governments will follow through on their commitments this time.
AMMREN is calling on the 10 African countries, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Mali, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Tanzania and Uganda, labelled as the malaria highest burden countries must step up efforts to tackle the disease. Clearly ownership of the challenge lies in their hands of countries most affected by malaria. Community empowerment is also critical to support grassroots engagement to achieve a malaria free world.
The time for decisive action is now. Malaria can be defeated. Together we can win the war against malaria
PROFILE
NAIROBI, Kenya (PAMACC News) - Joseph Mithika Mwenda never expected to be named among the world's 100 most influential people in climate change policy this year.
Despite being the executive director of Pan African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA), a civil society organization that champions for a healthy earth, Mwenda never thought that he was on the same level with some of the prominent people in the world.
So when the announcement by Apolitical, a global network for governments came, last month, Mwenda’s name was among the 100nominated by hundreds of public servants from around the world, including experts at the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), Harvard University, Oxford University, Bloomberg Philanthropies and non-governmental organisations (NGOs).
The list has people currently making the biggest impact on climate change policy including government ministers, academics, environmental activists and the church where Catholic’s Pope Francis is from.
The list recognizes include high-profile advocates whose work is indispensable to raising awareness and demanding change. Others are young rising stars who are making their mark in local communities and are a driving force behind governmental progress.
“I was in Ghana attending a climate change conference and when this announcement was done I didn’t have an iota of imagination that I could be in such a distinguished roll. I learnt of it in a peculiar way people were greeting me…congratulating me on the accomplishment. That’s when I learnt that I was in the same league with top celebrities, religious leaders and politicians in the world. It is still a humbling recognition,” Mwenda said.
Mwenda, who comes from Meru County said he has dedicated the last decade in building PACJA since a small group of people met at Johannesburg’s suburb of Sandton, South Africa in 2008 and expressed desire to have a unified platform on climate change and environment in Africa.
“It has been a fulfilling journey, a journey of ups and downs but we eventually arrived where we wanted. Am happy I have contributed, together with my colleagues and partners across the continent, the most formidable environmental movement in Africa. We most of more than 1000 organisations in 48 countries,” Mwenda said.
He said Kenya can be considered a first mover in matters climate change and a pacesetter in policies to address the scourge.
“It became the first country in Africa to enact the most comprehensive law on climate change, the Climate Change Act, 2016 which was signed by President Kenyatta in May 2016,” he said.
Mwenda said the law puts in place a framework which defines actions to be undertaken by stakeholders to mainstream climate change in the entire political economy of the country.
“In addition, several Policies to mainstream the problem have been put in place, including the National Climate Change Action Plan 2018 – 2022. There is also the National Adaptation Plan, the National Green Economy Implementation Strategy, among others,” Mwenda said.
He revealed that he and PACJA have played a key role in helping the Kenya government draft climate change legislation.
“Together with some colleagues, we reached out to former Bureti MP Franklin Bett, in the 9th Parliament to come up with a Private member’s Bill on climate change, which evolved into the Climate Change Act, 2016. I can confidently say that this Law was mainly driven by civil society and MPs,” he said.
He observed that the Ministry of Environment which coordinates issues related to climate change was initially hesitant to participate in the discussions around the law, but could not resist the momentum built through the mobilization which followed.
“Though the ministry eventually took charge of the process, am happy that we catalyzed a process which gave Kenya accolades in international arena. I also acknowledge the effort by other former MPs such as Rachel Shebesh, Uasin Gishu Senator Prof Margret Kamar, former Emuhaya MP and Vihiga Governor Dr Wilbur Otichillo and North Horr Chachu Ganya for working with us to ensure the law received overwhelming support inParliament. It was not an easy journey, though. I remember many interests stood on the path against us, and that is why it took almost 10 years to achieve,” Mwenda said.
But he acknowledged that it is one thing in signing and adopting international agreements like the historic 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change, and another thing altogether in implementing such Agreements.
“I want to be brutally honest: Kenya is very good in policies, including international ones, but very poor in implementation,” Mwenda said.
He observed that all countries have submitted to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the UN body mandated to coordinate climate action, their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).
“These are sets of actions all countries were required to undertake as their commitment to the implementation of the Paris Agreement. The guidelines for the NDCs implementation were finally agreed during the annual conference of countries in Poland last year,” he said.
But the biggest challenge, he noted, for this ambitious effort is money required to undertake such actions.
“Kenya, for instance, has estimated that it will require around Sh40 trillion till 2030 to meet its obligations. Definitely it will require massive donor support, which may not be forthcoming. The World Leaders will be meeting on 23rd September this year in New York to discuss how to raise resources to support climate action in the world. The issue remains emotive, and it has divided the world on who should carry this burden,” Mwenda said.
He added that asany other African country, Kenya’s carbon footprint is very negligible compared to that of industrialized countries. As per the Paris Agreement, however, Kenya has committed to pursue a low-carbon, climate-resilient green economic development pathway. Through this, the government of Kenya will reduce its emissions by 30 per cent by 2030.
“The challenge here is that massive resources which exceeds the ability of Kenya are required. I doubt whether the Donors will be able to provide all the trillions of money required to meet this ambition. That’s why creativity is required, including roping in the private sector as they are both culprits in pollution while at the same time they can provide solutions,” he said.
He called on African countries to strengthen their voice in international negotiations to ensure they get the best bargain for their people in decisions made at various levels, adding that they should resist fragmentation by interested parties who do not what to meet their obligations.
He also observed that during the “One Planet Summit” hosted by Presidents Uhuru Kenyattaand France’s Emmanuel Macron on the sidelines of the fourth Session of UN Environment Assembly in Nairobi last month, Uhuru committed himself to increase the forest cover to 10 per cent by 2022.
“A marshall plan is required to achieve this ambition, otherwise it will be another proclamation without action. Uhuru should go beyond the government to achieve his dream. The civil society, communities and private sector should be incentivized to become partners of this effort,” Mwenda said.
Acknowledging that communities are custodians of forests and their resources, any effort to preserve or protect forests which doesn’t involve communities will be a cropper.
“But this is the current scenario. In paper we have very interesting policies to manage our forests, but the reality on the ground paints a picture of periodic conflicts with communities as the Kenya Forest Service, which bothers more about trees than the people who live with these trees. We need people to have ownership and pride in their ecosystem,” he said.
He said the unpredictable weather patterns-long dry spells will remain with Kenyans for the foreseeable future, based on authoritative scientific evidence, particularly the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (UPCC).
“Kenya should integrate climate change into all its development strategies, notably the Vision 2030, Uhuru’s Big Four Agenda, National Climate Change Action Plan 2018 – 2022. Counties are currently aligning their CIDPs with the National Policies. So much is going on, but much more need to be done,” Mwenda said.
Last year, Mwenda said, the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) through the African Environmental Partnership Platform (AEPP) named PACJA as the top environmental policy organization in Africa.
“This was a personal achievement. In addition, I was elected to Chair the Institutional Collaboration Platform (ICP) of the Climate Research for Development in Africa (CR4D), spearheaded by African Union, World Meteorological Organisation, UN Economic Commission for Africa, among other Institutions. Such humbling call for duty is quite an achievement for me,” Mwenda said.
Mwenda is also the Southern Civil Society Observer to the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility of the World Bank, and recently, joined a global committee for the “United for Climate Justice”, a mobilization initiative driven by both governments and CSOs to advance the narrative of climate justice during the UN Secretary General’s Summit in New York later in the year.
He was actively involved in pro-democracy and governance movement that was agitating for expanded democracy in his country, which engineered the promulgation of one of the most celebrated people-driven Constitutions in the world in 2010.
He studied in Moi University where he was a student leader, before joining Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology for post-graduate studies in Public Policy Analysis. He is now pursuing his PhD with the University of Witwatersrand, South Africa.
In 2016, the influential Pan African Magazine, Le Afrique, named him among the top 50 African Intellectuals due to his contribution to climate policy discourses in the continent.
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Some of the powerful names on the list:
1. Alexandria Ocasio - Cortez- Congresswoman, US Congress
2. Pope Francis- Head, The Roman Catholic Church
3. Saleemul Huq- Director, International Centre for Climate Change and Development
4. Xie Zhenhua- Special Representative for Climate Change Affairs, National Development and Reform Commission, China
5. Autumn Peltier- Clean Water Activist
6. Jamie Margolin- Founder, Zero Hour
7. Neeshad Shafi- Co- Founder, Arab Youth Climate Movement Qatar
8. Al Gore-Former Vice President, United States
9. Bernie Sanders-Senator, US Congress
10. Elizabeth May-Leader, Green Party of Canada
11. Katharina Schulze- Politician, Alliance 90/The Greens party, Germany
12. Mohammed Adjei Sowah- Mayor, City of Accra
13. Sergio Bergman-Environment Minister, Argentina
14. Gavin Schmidt-Director, NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies
15. Gina McCarthy-Professor of the Practice of Public Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
16. James Hansen-Professor, Columbia University
17. Johan Rockstrom- Professor, Stockholm University
18. Naomi Oreskes- Professor of the History of Science and Affiliated Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Harvard University
19. Michael Bloomberg-CEO, Bloomberg LP
20. Patricia Espinosa- Executive Secretary, UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)
