Online Reporter
Remember Deketeke
Herald Correspondent
COUNTRIES have been urged to strengthen Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) financing strategies, governance and implementation capacity to effectively address emerging risks, Local Government and Public Works Minister Daniel Garwe has said.
He said this during the G20 group that is participating in the group’s Disaster Risk Reduction Ministers meeting in Cape Town, South Africa.
Although Zimbabwe is not a member of the G20, its participation is key in the exchange of notes and knowledge on how to deal with the growing number of disasters, an official said.
Speaking on behalf of the Minister, the chief director, Department of Civil Protection, Mr Nathan Nkomo, said the country was invited by South Africa to ensure that there is synergy in the management of disasters in the region.
“We are here at the invitation of South Africa, which not only recognised us as a neighbour but also the past chair of SADC Ministers Responsible for Disaster Risk Management,” he said.
“I am sure as a member of SADC, we were invited with an observer status. And from that kind of status, we have managed to learn a lot, and some of these ideas will help us back home and in the region.”
The meeting is running under the theme “Strengthening Disaster Preparedness through Solidarity and Global Cooperation”.
South Africa is the current President of the G20, but works closely with SADC countries in Disaster Risk Reduction.
Minister Garwe said most of the issues being discussed, such as resilience in terms of infrastructure, were the same Zimbabwe has experienced after Cyclone Idai and other subsequent cyclones.
“We are learning how G20 countries have managed to tackle disasters and we want to take the lessons back home and implement them as the Government in the DRR sector,” he said.
“All the important ingredients in the DRR sector have been touched on, also from development partners, and I am sure we should then be able to deal with these issues when we face them back home.”
Minister Garwe said the meeting will enable Zimbabwe to benchmark good practices on the new system the country is developing in the form of the National Emergency Operation Centre.
