By Mphatso Nkuonera, Malabo, Equatorial Guinea
Malabo, Mana: Officials sitting in Malabo for the 15th Extra-ordinary Summit Meeting of the African Union on Humanitarian Matters and Pledging Conference, have resolved to increase on coming up with solutions than waiting to respond when natural disasters occur.
The 4thAU Specialized Technical Committee (STC) on Migration, Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons meeting which started from 23rdto 24th May, has discussed key humanitarian challenges facing Africa such as disasters, climate change, conflicts, food insecurity, and pandemics such as COVID-19.
Commissioner for Disaster Management Affairs (DoDMA), Charles Kalemba, said the Member States have decried the spirit of depending on getting aid from other continents when Africa has all resources which can make her a food basket and independent.
“Member countries have agreed to mobilize our expertise and resources to mitigate against the various humanitarian crises which have locked the continent. In terms of food security, Africa has adequate land, water and human resources that can make it be able to consolidate its resilience in economic and humanitarian standing in the world
“Added to that, member states have agreed that African should provide solutions for African problems and move away, from waiting to respond to humanitarian crises and start to critically look at risk reduction and resilience,” he explained.
He added that armed conflicts and land related struggles have worsened peoples suffering and created more need for humanitarian aid.
According to Kalemba, from the Cyclone Ana that hit Malawi from 23rd to 24th January, 2022, 995, 000 people were affected, 190, 000 people were displaced with 206 injuries and 46 deaths while 18 people went missing.
“Early March we were also hit by Cyclone Gombe, where additional 159, 226 people were affected from 35, 383 households and 11, 008 households were displaced with 27 injuries and 39 deaths registered respectively.
Principal Secretary for Homeland Security, Kennedy Nkhoma said that, Malawi is doing a lot in cushioning suffering of refugees and asylum seekers, while other AU member states refuse hosting them.
“Malawi is very committed in making sure that all people especially the displaced, and asylum seekers have somewhere where they can call home. They are hosted and in collaboration with several partners being looked after. We totally subscribe to the philosophy of working to provide African solutions to African problems because most of the challenges can best be dealt with by member states.
The Principal Secretariesand senior delegateshad a busy schedule consisting of various high level meetings, sharing experiences and explaining to the AU organ on what the country is doing in risk reduction and creation of resilience.
The 2021 State of Food Insecurity (SOFI) report, highlights that 282 million people are undernourished in Africa, an increase of 49 million from 20, 194. Sub-Sahara Africa is mostly affected with 24.1 per cent of the population being undernourished, while the North Africa sub-Region has 7.1 per cent undernourished,
Approximately 115 million people need Humanitarian assistance in Africa, out of these, 75 million are targeted for assistance. This includes over 5 million refugees in Eastern and Western Africa. Cumulatively over USD 14 billion is needed to address the existing needs in Africa.
President Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera, who chairs both the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) is expected to arrive in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea on 25thMay, from Davos, Switzerland where he attended the World Economic Forum.
