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Mukudzei Chingwere, Herald Reporter
THE United Nations Climate Crisis Coordinator for El Nino and La Nina Response has commended Zimbabwe’s efforts in fighting the El-Nino-induced drought and pledged to support the country’s food security.
Crisis Co-ordinator and UN Assistant Secretary General Ms Reena Ghelani yesterday paid a courtesy call on Vice President Dr Constantino Chiwenga at his offices in Harare on the back of a fact-finding first-hand tour of the country and on-the-ground interactions with communities.
President Mnangagwa declared the drought a state of disaster in April, thus affording ample time for a comprehensive response to the El Nino phenomenon.
“We were discussing with the Honourable Vice President the Government’s plans to support the people of Zimbabwe through this drought,” said Ms Ghelani. “My purpose was to come and hear from the communities and the Government, and express solidarity from the United Nations with the people of Zimbabwe and guarantee that we are here to support the Government’s efforts. We actually went to visit some of the programmes that the Government and the United Nations are doing in support of those efforts.
“So, we saw and we have heard about the plans for immediate support on water, particularly boreholes, and the longer term plans the Government has of the dams and we saw communities that have been supported with growing nutritious food using some of these new efforts on water”.
She also met women in urban areas who have been given support by the United Nations as well as the Government to build livelihoods.
“They are building businesses for themselves and they are completely self-sufficient and independent today.
“I think there is a lesson to be learnt here. One thing the Government did is declaring an emergency earlier on, it was in April and that allowed a trigger of action also from the United Nations in support. Early interventions save lives and that’s one of the biggest lessons,” said Ms Ghelani.
UN Resident Co-ordinator in Zimbabwe, Ambassador Edward Kallon, who was part of the UN delegation that met VP Chiwenga, said the personal visit by Ms Ghelani was an indication of the UN commitment to work with Zimbabwe.
“Following the declaration of a national disaster by His Excellency President Mnangagwa, the United Nations and partners in Zimbabwe came together and developed what we call a flash appeal,” said Ambassador Kallon.
“The visit by Madam Ghelani, given her global mandate, is to raise awareness on the impact of this El Nino crisis on Zimbabwe and ordinary Zimbabweans.
“We also want to understand what partners are doing to address this problem but also raise an awareness on the needs and support required to complement the Government of Zimbabwe,” said Ambassador Kallon.
Online Reporter