Africa-Press – Angola. The acting president of the SADC Council of Ministers, Téte António, defended this Sunday, in Luanda, the implementation of emergency plans to combat the various natural disasters in the region.
Speaking at the opening of the extraordinary meeting of this body, which is taking place in virtual format from Gaborone, Republic of Botswana, the head of Angolan diplomacy also said that these plans would ensure, in the short, medium and long term, a response effective against these phenomena.
Téte António said that natural disasters know no borders and have a great impact, hence the need for cross-border collaboration.
The meeting of the SADC Council of Ministers served to deliberate issues related to efforts to respond to the effects of drought, induced by the El Niño phenomenon in the Southern African region.
He recalled that the Republic of Madagascar witnessed the devastation caused by tropical cyclones Alvaro, Filipo and Gamane between January and March 2024, which caused the loss of lives and the destruction of property and infrastructure.
“We have also seen continued rain and flooding in Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi and the United Republic of Tanzania, which have caused loss of life and destruction of infrastructure and property, resulting in billions of dollars in damage and losses,” he said..
He also added that during the 2023/24 agricultural season, there were crop losses as a result of the drought induced by the El Niño phenomenon, which is already causing food deficits.
“As a consequence, we are already seeing volatility in the prices of essential basic products”, he reinforced.
He also highlighted that low rainfall is also having an impact on the availability of water resources for water supply, sanitation and hygiene services, energy production and animal production. Some countries are already experiencing long hours of electricity cuts.
He thanked partners for their support, especially at critical times when the region is facing devastation resulting from multiple recurring threats that wreak havoc on communities and economies.
This meeting is a response to the directive of the Acting President of SADC, João Lourenço, following the decision of the SADC Council of Ministers, in August 2023, and the recommendations of the Steering Committee of the Regional Vulnerability Assessment and Analysis Program.
The meeting precedes the virtual Extraordinary Summit of Heads of State and Government of this continental organization, to be held on Monday (20th), to assess the humanitarian situation in the region, following the drought induced by El Niño, which had an impact impact on the lives and livelihoods of around 58 million people.
The Head of Angolan diplomacy called on all Member States to take the recommendations seriously and implement them religiously, in order to reduce the impact of these disasters and strengthen the resilience of our communities in the long term.
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