Posted in Press Release
The EAC Climate Change Adaptation Specialist, Mr. Dismas Mwikila has said that all the EAC Partner States have signed the Paris Agreement and that they were at different stages in the ratification processes. He said what was needed now was to review climate change policy documents to accommodate the outcomes of the ongoing 22nd Session of the Conference of Parties (COP22) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) taking place in Bab Ighli in Marrakech, Morocco.
The Climate Change Adaptation Specialist, who was making a presentation on EAC Road Map for Implementation of the key Resolution of the Paris Agreement (PA) at a side event organized by the EAC and Partners at the Climate Change Conference, said there was need to make adequate preparations for effective implementation of the Paris Agreement.
Mr. Mwikila disclosed that the EAC Secretariat had developed a road map to implement key resolution of the Paris Agreement and that the road map had several elements that include; showing how to approach the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) implementation; and translation of the Paris Agreement into concrete steps for the Partner States; and how to take the work forward.
He said the implementation of the road map would involve several interventions, including, among others, identification of the resolutions of the Paris Agreement which are more relevant to the EAC Partner States; assisting policy makers in Partner States dealing with climate change in internalizing the Paris Agreement to come up with country specific implementation framework; identification of common actions across NDCs and develop NDCs Implementation Plans; review of the EAC’s existing Regional Climate Change Policy (2011), Climate Change Strategy (2011/12-2015/16) and Climate Change Master Plan (2013-2033) to mainstream the Paris Agreement.
He noted that there will be need to support the capitalization of the EAC Climate Change Funds through pioneering the accreditation as Regional Implementing Entity (RIE) under the Green Climate Fund (GCF) and Adaptation Fund (AF); and support Partner States to develop capacities for accreditation of their NIE; as well as support Partner States to develop credible projects that may attract funds from AF and GCF.
Other interventions include; promoting the continental climate resilient and low carbon development initiatives such as the Climate Smart Agriculture; promoting the African Adaptation and Loss and Damage Initiative; and lastly; promoting renewable energy and other sustainable development initiatives in a bid to attain global goal of reducing Green House Gas Emissions (GHGEs).
The EAC Climate Change Adaptation Specialist affirmed that implementation of the Paris Agreement must be guided by the principles and objectives of the Convention and that Developed countries should provide adequate, direct and predictable funding to enable Least Developed and Developing Countries to implement their NDCs. There is also the need for Partner States to ensure adequate stakeholders involvement in the implementation of Paris Agreement.
At the same side-event, the Programme Manager, Ecosystem based Adaptation (EbA) of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Mr. Ali Raza Rizvi highlighted key issues on Ecosystem management and affirmed that IUCN promotes the use of diversity and ecosystem services as part of an overall climate adaptation strategy both at the policy and practice level. He said ecosystem-based adaptation involves a wide range of ecosystem management activities to increase resilience and reduce the vulnerability of people and the environment to climate change.
Addressing climate change impact on water in the EAC region, the Environment and Natural Resources Officer at the Lake Victoria Basin Commission, Mr. Fredrick Mngube outlined some of the water climate change adaptation initiatives that have been put in place in the region. They include water catchments management, water allocation plans, wastewater management, sanitation and hygiene management.
Mr. Mngube reiterated that limited resources and technical support; and population increase by human, wildlife, and livestock were the key challenges the region was facing in addressing adaptation to climate change.
In another side-event organized by the EAC and Partners on Tuesday, 15 November 2016, themed Climate Smart Agriculture, Disaster Risk Management and Mitigation Actions in the EAC Region, the East African Community showcased Climate Change Initiatives sharing with participants, achievements and lessons learnt from Climate Smart Agriculture, Disaster Risk Reduction and Management, and Climate Change Mitigation Initiatives.
At the side-event, the EAC Deputy Secretary General in charge of Finance and Administration, Hon. Jesca Eriyo highlighted the region’s Disaster Risk Reduction Management, while the EAC Agricultural Specialist, Mr. David Wafula, discussed the Climate Smart Agriculture in the context of Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Progranmme (CAADP) Agenda. Ms Ritah Rukundo, the Technical Officer at the Regional Collaboration Centre of the GiZ, UNFCCC and EADB based in Kampala, Uganda, addressed the Green House Gas Emissions and the EAC.
Meanwhile, the official opening of the high-level segment of the United Nations Climate Conference in Marrakech, Morocco, (COP 22) took place on 15th November 2016 officiated by the Secretary General of the United Nations Mr. Ban Ki-moon, during which world leaders showed strong support for the implementation of the Paris Agreement.
Mr. Ban said that the United Nations will help countries implement the Paris Agreement and he called on developed countries to honour their commitment to mobilize climate finance – $100 billion by 2020 to help developing countries to mitigate and adapt to climate vulnerability.
Posted in Press Release
The East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) holds its sitting in Nairobi, Kenya, next week. The third Meeting of the Fifth Session of the Third Assembly takes place from Monday, November 21st, 2016 to Thursday, December 1st, 2016.
The Assembly is to be presided over by the Speaker, Rt. Hon Daniel F. Kidega. Top on the agenda during the two week period is the address by H.E. Uhuru Kenyatta expected to be delivered at a Special Sitting on November 29th, 2016.
The two key Bills on the agenda are the EAC Gender Equality and Development Bill, 2016 as well as the EAC Polythene Materials Control Bill, 2016.
The EAC Gender Equality and Development Bill, 2016 makes provision for gender equality, protection and development in the Community. The Treaty for the Establishment of the EAC in Article 121 recognises the significant contribution that women make towards progress of socio-economic transformation and sustainable growth and the importance of full participation of women and men in the economic and social development of the Partner States.
The EAC Polythene Materials Control Bill, 2016 moved by Hon. Patricia Hajabakiga, aims at providing a legal framework for the preservation of a clean and healthy environment through the prohibition of manufacturing, sale, importation and use of polythene materials. The Bill was re-introduced during the Sitting held in August 2016 in Arusha, Tanzania.
Also to be deliberated on during the two week period are reports from various Committees of the House, including that of the sensitisation activities in the Partner States and a Report on the activity with the EAC Audit and Risk Committee. The Report of the Committee on Legal Rules and Privileges on the Oversight activity on Approximation and harmonisation of the National laws in the EAC context and another on procurement of health and group staff insurance shall also be tabled.
The Plenary shall be followed by the Inter-Parliamentary Relations Seminar (Nanyuki Series) held on November 30th – December 2nd, 2016. The Seminar is expected to be attended by legislators from the EAC Partner States’ Parliaments. The Seminar which is the 10th in series since inception, is anchored on the theme: Good Governance and Poverty Reduction in East Africa.
Conceived in 2003, the Inter-Parliamentary Relations Seminar is one of the avenues through which EALA and the National Assemblies of the EAC Partner States interact as per the requirements of Articles 49(2) and 65 of the Treaty for the Establishment of the EAC. The nature of the Nanyuki meetings is rotational with venues in respective Partner States. Nine meetings have so far been held with various themes under the title, “Nanyuki Series”, so named after the venue of the first one held in June 2004.
The forthcoming Seminar is intended to discuss the gap between theory and the realities on the ground in contemporary East Africa as it analyses the correlation between good governance and poverty reduction efforts.
At the end of the Seminar, it is expected that: the interface between governance and poverty reduction focusing on the main anti-poverty reduction strategy in the East Africa Community shall be critically examined and contexualized.
According to analysts, poverty reduction is increasingly becoming a rights-based issue. The international Community has accepted it as a universal agenda through the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which is being reflected at the national level by the initiation and implementation of the Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs) in many developing countries, including the East African Partner States.