Africa-Press – Namibia. ALL PEOPLE ARE born equal and have a right to equal opportunities.
This is a belief in the hearts and minds of egalitarians. In the annals of history American Baptist minister Martin Luther King Jr stands out as an egalitarian.
Much remains to be done, but there has been progress on gender, racial, legal, religious, and political equality, but generally, egalitarianism remains commendable, and a lofty ideal.
The conference recently held in Glasgow, in Scotland, dubbed COP26, was the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference. COP is the abbreviation for Conference of the Parties to the United Nations (UN) Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
Headquartered in Bonn, Germany, the UNFCCC is the UN institution overseeing global climate matters. In the weeks leading up to COP26, climate concerns dominated the news.
We learned through documentaries and media reports just how badly the acts and omissions of our parents, perpetuated over past decades by ourselves, are putting our fragile planet at risk.
As thousands gathered inside the conference centre, youngsters, led by climate-change activist Greta Thunberg, and others gathered at fringe meetings at nearby venues on the streets of Glasgow, lavishly piling the blame on us for doing nothing or little to arrest a deteriorating situation.
With our parents and elders long gone, it seems we oldies are easy targets in blame gaming. Yet little was said at COP26 about what we could or should have done better or differently.
Now we are in trouble again, because of the emergence of a new variant of the coronavirus. This time the young, as well as the old of the entire southern African region, are collectively blamed.
Strange, isn’t it? South African scientists made a breakthrough discovery of a new Covid-19 variant, alerted the world, and instead of a pat on the back, panic prevails.
Doors slammed shut at breathtaking speed as politicians of the world’s developed economies opted to embrace a head back into the safety of a shell, or a tortoise-like mentality.
And in doing so, they dispatched to the garbage bin the holiday plans of thousands of inbound and outbound travellers. There is, however, something else we can and will be blamed for unless action is taken now.
Working at a conference venue on the top floor of a high rise in the capital city’s downtown district over the past days provided a panoramic bird’s-eye view of Windhoek.
From the elevated vantage point one has a clear view of Windhoek’s more affluent residential areas, and to the north-west, of the residential suburbs of the less well-off residents.
Eyes strained, you could catch a glimpse, in the distance, of the city’s informal settlements, where the have-nots reside, go to school, and most of the older ones eke out a living.
Unashamedly an entrepreneur, ever so often I paused to ponder that egalitarian right – all are born equal and have a right to equal opportunities. It dawned on me that, unlike shunning blame for screwing up the planet and fostering a new virus variant, we can do something about this.
By collective engagement and focused determination, we will find answers, strategise, and craft remedial solutions. And find the ways and means to do so too. But who will take the lead?
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