Africa-Press – Lesotho. The newly introduced United Nations (UN) Resident Coordinator to Lesotho Amanda Khozi Mukwashi has paid a courtesy call to Prime Minister (PM) Dr Moeketsi
Majoro on Wednesday, where she put forward UN’s intention to assist in addressing climate change and Gender-Based Violence (GBV). Mukwashi said Lesotho is a country with abundant resources that can transform its challenges
into opportunities. “I have only been in the country for four weeks and I have been talking to different stakeholders, especially the civil society organizations
to get to know the country and Basotho. I think regarding the issue of climate change, it is far more important to see the connection between climate change,
how it causes either too much rain or drought and the impact that it has on crops, harvest and therefore issues of food security,” she said. She also highlighted that the issue of food security is more serious, saying it
will require collaboration of both the government and the entire Basotho nation. She stated that they will try to put all their efforts to work with other development partners to see how they can transform the country.
The UN Resident Coordinator said the aim is to engage with the youth. On GBV, Mukwashi mentioned that it is a concern to the UN. “It is also something
that has concerned me personally as a woman and an African, if we cannot guard the lives of our other women and young girls considering that we are the big
part of the population, then how are we going to make progress? Certainly, it is something that is talked about, mostly the issue of child marriage. Until
women are dignified and their rights are respected, we cannot say we are moving progressively and it is not a challenge that we have only seen in Africa but
also in other parts of the world,” she said. She concluded that what they need to do is make sure that prevention is key. She said they intend to work with communities, private sectors, the government and
other partners to make sure that they redirect the nation. The PM welcomed and acknowledged Mukwashi. He told the media that she will be coordinating the work of the entire UN system
in Lesotho. He said UN has many agencies in the country including the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), World Food Programme (WFP) and the United
Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). He said as the Prime Minister his duty was to communicate the needs of the country and to specify how UN can alleviate the key issues such as youth unemployment and GBV.
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