UN General Assembly Proclaims 3 March as World Wildlife Day Fri, Dec 27, 2013
The United Nations General Assembly decided to proclaim 3 March as World Wildlife Day, to celebrate and raise awareness of the world's wild fauna and flora.
- See more at: http://www.unep.org/newscentre/default.aspx?DocumentID=2756&ArticleID=10687#sthash.wsumhxJT.dpuf
Major boost for climate change resilience in Africa
[CAPE TOWN] A new US$10 million fund has been launched to increase climate change resilience in Africa.
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO), UN agencies and humanitarian organisations launched the Climate Services Adaptation Programme in Africa at the 19th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Warsaw, Poland last month (21 November).The programme, which is funded by the Norwegian government, is to be implemented under the Global Framework for Climate Services (GFCS) from 2014 to 2016.
‘Landscapes approach’ could alleviate West Africa climate change woes – scientists
An integrated approach to land management that ensures sustainable policies could help agriculture-dependent West Africa cope with the looming effects of climate change, a panel of experts proposed.Climate change is already affecting the livelihoods of West African smallholder farmers who rely on rain-fed agricultural techniques, and it is expected to make food shortages more acute as the region’s population continues to grow, said panelists at an event at the Global Landscapes Forum (GLF), on the sidelines of the recent U.N. climate talks in Warsaw, Poland.
Africa battles to access climate change funds
Despite the global allocation of funds to mitigate the effects of climate change, many African countries have not been able to access the money due to inadequate policies and planning.By Jeffrey Moyo, Harare/Johannesburg
Livias Duri, 72, from Zimbabwe’s Mwenezi district in Masvingo province, 436 km south-west of the capital Harare, depends on agriculture for his livelihood.
But he lives in an area that is one of Zimbabwe’s most drought-prone.
“Yes, we hear world governments often meet to discuss ways of combating the impact of climate change, but truly I have neither seen nor heard about anything good that has come out of such talks. Drought has become part of our lives here in Mwenezi. If the rains come, it’s either too much or too little,” Duri said.
Severe water shortages in Malawi
RUMPHI, 12 December 2013 (IRIN) - Parts of Malawi, including large parts of the northern region, have not received rain since February 2013 and are now experiencing severe water shortages. Women in the affected areas are leaving their homes in the early hours of the morning and walking up to 40 minutes to fetch water from the closest source.
“One will have to be up and on their way to the nearest borehole by midnight if she is to be in a position to get water, because by that time several other people will already have lined up for the same,” said Lucky Chadewa, who lives in Chikwawa in northern Malawi’s Rumphi district.
The water table has dropped as the rainless days have continued and boreholes yield less water or even dry up. The women wait for them to refill rather than return home empty-handed. “It is totally just by luck that one gets… [any] these days because after filling just a few buckets, the borehole stops producing water,” Chadewa told IRIN.
Women often leave their buckets in the queue at the borehole and rush back home so they can get their children ready for school. But when they return they find that their buckets have been pushed to the back of the queue and they may spend the rest of the day waiting to fill them.
“One will have to be up and on their way to the nearest borehole by midnight if she is to be in a position to get water, because by that time several other people will already have lined up for the same,” said Lucky Chadewa, who lives in Chikwawa in northern Malawi’s Rumphi district.
The water table has dropped as the rainless days have continued and boreholes yield less water or even dry up. The women wait for them to refill rather than return home empty-handed. “It is totally just by luck that one gets… [any] these days because after filling just a few buckets, the borehole stops producing water,” Chadewa told IRIN.
Women often leave their buckets in the queue at the borehole and rush back home so they can get their children ready for school. But when they return they find that their buckets have been pushed to the back of the queue and they may spend the rest of the day waiting to fill them.
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