Home | News | DROUGHT WILL GET WORSE, SD WARNED

DROUGHT WILL GET WORSE, SD WARNED

Font size: Decrease font Enlarge font

LOZITHA – The drought situation in Southern Africa is going to get worse.


 These foreboding words rang through the Mandvulo Hall as the Special Envoy of United Nations Secretary General on El Niño and Climate and former Ireland President, Mary Robinson, addressed the media on the state of the drought situation in SADC.


She was responding to questions from members of the media, after presenting her findings on the effects of the drought in Southern African countries, particularly in Swaziland.
She did, however, mention on a lighter note, that she hoped that her coming to Southern Africa and Swaziland would bring with it some of her ‘Irish luck’.
Robinson said the 2015/2016 El Niño was a window into a climate future that is less predictable and more extreme.


“Although the countries of Southern Africa are well-versed in dealing with drought and other challenges, this El Niño has stretched even the most resilient countries, eroding reserves and is threatening to undo hard-won development gains,” Robinson said.
She made it clear that Southern Africa had no time to waste as it was likely that the next climate-linked humanitarian disaster would be upon the region even before communities have recovered from this one.
Robinson said El Niño’s equally troublesome sibling, La Niña, might be just on the horizon, further affecting the same communities already struggling with the effects of El Niño.


She stressed the fact that the situation with which SADC was now faced, concerning the current El Niño, demanded that a new, more urgent and more integrated approach was engaged in meeting the challenges the region would face in the future.
Robinson said African leaders had to emphasise on a more co-ordinated approach to the drought.
‘Even in my short time in Swaziland, I have witnessed the terrible impacts of relentless drought on children, families and communities,” Robinon said.


She narrated how she had travelled to Dvokodvweni on Tuesday, to meet with El Niño-affected children and families, in order to understand and assess the situation, including the immediate and long-term actions needed at all levels.
Robinson noted that the depth of the drought this year was immense, with El Niño coming on the back of successive seasons of failed rains and above average temperatures.
“The effects were evident in the parched earth, the sparse vegetation and the obviously weak and under-nourished animals,” said Robinson.

Comments (0 posted):

Post your comment comment

Please enter the code you see in the image: