In the face of a global and national climate crisis, the United Nations has reiterated its full commitment to climate action as espoused under the Paris Agreement of 2015.
Dr. Esther Muia, Country Representative of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) announced the commitment on the 74th Anniversary of the UN in her statement on behalf of the Zimbabwe UN Country Team on 23 October 2019 at the National Gallery in Harare.
Dr. Muia told delegates that the UN and partners’ showcase was to highlight the enduring ideals of the UN Charter, which was entered into force 74 years ago.
“Under the localised theme “GalvanizingClimateAction,” we have highlighted in the past three days, through exhibition and panel discussion, that climate change is one of the biggest challenges of our time, globally as well as right here in Zimbabwe, where the country woke up to the trail of destruction caused by Cyclone Idai in early March this year.
“As you may recall, Cyclone Idai came at a time when the country was grappling with a fragile humanitarian situation caused by drought and economic shocks, affecting 5.7 million people,” Dr. Muia said.
The development advocate insisted that no human deserves to live with the fear of waking up with no home or worrying about where their next meal would come from. She advocated for improvement in disaster preparedness by various stakeholders.
“The recent extreme weather events across the globe have only proven that the world must get things right and with a sense of urgency on preparedness by changing day-to-day lifestyles at individual, community and national level. In his address to the 74th Session of the UN General Assembly, the UN Secretary General stated that, “what once was called “climate change” is now truly a “climate crisis”.… and what was once called “global warming” has more accurately become “global heating.”
In the face of such a global and national climate crisis, the United Nations reiterated its full commitment to climate action, keeping in mind the commitments made by UN member states including Zimbabwe under the Paris Agreement of 2015.
Under the 2016-2021 Zimbabwe United Nations Development Assistance Framework – or ZUNDAF for short – the United Nations, together with the
Government and partners – has cumulatively delivered USD 1.5 billion as of 30 June 2019 in the form of various development and humanitarian assistance.
In support of national efforts, this assistance has yielded tangible results related to humanitarian response, disaster risk reduction, social protection and resilience building.