... cites numerous achievements
MBABANE – The Deputy Prime Minister (DPM), Themba Masuku, says Eswatini has numerous achievements emanating from the implementation of the Sendai Framework.
These achievements include the formulation of the national resilience strategy, Tropical Cyclone readiness plan, mobilisation of stakeholders to improve disaster preparedness, and inclusion of Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) in the National Determined contribution.
Masuku highlighted that the impact of climate change manifested through prolonged dry spells, floods and heat waves, accompanied by a high rate of unemployment that led to at least 20 per cent of the population living in chronic food insecurity.
To respond to that challenge, the DPM told the meeting that government provided safety nets to this population through cash-based transfers (CBT) for the longest period.
To build resilience, he said several other programmes targeting the chronically vulnerable populations, had been initiated.
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“One of them being the child-headed household farming programme, a government initiative supported by various stakeholders is already yielding impressive results. The most vulnerable child-headed households are supplied with farm inputs as well as planting of fruit trees to produce their own food. However, they still need irrigation equipment to be resilient to drought,” he said.
He went on to state that the kingdom recognised that disaster risk management should be part of all government policies and programmes as sustainable development will be elusive without it.
In this view, DRR has been included in the Water Management Policy of 2017, Drought Management Plan 2019, and the 2022 National Development Plan as well as many other government plans.
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In an effort to achieve the Sendai Framework targets and priorities, Masuku said the Kingdom of Eswatini was reviewing the Disaster Management Act of 2006, which will strengthen disaster governance to manage disaster risk.
“This review is informed by the prevailing knowledge and best practices globally as well as our own experience gathered in the last seven years.
“The 2015/2016 drought, COVID-19 and the cyclones, whose intensity and return periods have amplified as a result of climate change, left us with rich knowledge to use towards a better and risk resilient future.
“Thousands of housing structures for the elderly and child -headed families were destroyed by torrential rainfall and tropical cyclone.
“The country has raised awareness on the importance of adhering to building codes and has also constructed at least 800 improved housing structures in building back better effort,” he said.