Yeukai Munetsi
In an attempt to bring critical climate issues to attention, Youth Empowerment and Transformation trust in partnership with Community Solutionz Zimbabwe hosted a climate change and action training to raise awareness on climate change in Midlands.
The training workshop was running under the theme “Youth Participate Project,”
which is funded by the Nowergian Corporation for exchange (NOREC) and has two other partners, Youth Alive Kenya and Center for Youth Empowerment and Civic Education.
Speaking at the event, Community Solutions Director, Mr Tobias Saratiel, stressed the need for youths to be well versed with climate change in order to mitigate its severe impact.
“Youths play a critical role in averting severe impacts of climate change, so there is need for young people to be well researched and interact with climate change issues here in Midlands and beyond,” said Saratiel.
He went on to encourage youths to indulge with other youths across the globe in order to get ideas on how to mitigate, adapt, and be resilient in climate change issues.
Other issues discussed include Basics of Climate Change, Climate Change Policy Landscape, Climate Change Financing Landscape, advocacy Strategies and Role of Youths in Climate Change.
Zimbabwe Coalition on Debt and Development (ZIMCODD) Midlands Coordinator Gracia Mashingaidze coordinator said there was need for transparency in relation to Climate Financing in order to channel resources accordingly and avoid balooning the National debt.
“For us to achieve effective Climate Action, the Government of Zimbabwe needs to practice transparency in terms of Climate Financing in order to avoid getting climate loans with penalties that will increase the national debt and burden the already burdened citizens,” said Mashingaidze.
Zimbabwe is a beneficiary of the Green Climate fund. However, many countries like her face challenges in accessing climate change finances because of limited access to other sources of climate finance beyond the traditional GCF,GEF, and Adaptation Fund.
Nkabazwe Community Radio programmes officer Brisky Ncube said that despite all these challenges in accessing climate finance, there is also a need for the government to include special funds allocated to climate change issues in the national budget.
“For Zimbabwe to be taken serious by donors and other institutions for Climate Financing ,there is need for the country to show seriousness by proving that climate issues are being prioritized in Zimbabwe by showing evidence in the national budget not to hide it behind the ministry of Environment,” said Ncube.
He added that everything in Zimbabwe is politicized, and that destroys the element of efficiency in delivering Climate Change Action.
“Everything is politicized in Zimbabwe. We see politicians taking such structures as political structures. We have institutions like the Environmental Management Agency (EMA) giving recommendations to the government towards climate issues, but because politics always find its way against development, nothing is fulfilled,” said Ncube.
Sharon Chipadza programs and membership officer for Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA) emphasized the need for youth to lead in climate action.
“After receiving such an important training ,the ball is now within the youths to share this knowledge with their peers, be innovative, and also educate the senior generation on the realities associated with Climate Change,” said Chipadza
Gweru Residents and Ratepayers Association Programs Officer Fadzai Kanyai also highlighted the need for various CSOz to include climate change issues when they are applying for grants.
“Issues of Climate Change are cross cutting. Hence, I would like to encourage all CSOz here to add the element of climate change when applying for grants. Climate issues affect every sector, so the first step to acknowledge its importance is to infuse it in our work,” she said.
