EastAfrican, the - Nation Media Group Limited

Climate change is the most important challenge. It is a daily reality in East Africa despite the region bearing almost none of the responsibility for global emissions.

South Sudan was among countries most impacted by extreme weather events in recent years according to the global Climate Risk Index 2021.

Uganda has East Africa's highest number of internally displaced people, in part because past relocation efforts failed due to exorbitant costs and unsuitable living areas. While the government will implement a new resettlement project, the plan risks leaving some people behind. An ecosystem restoration project that would curtail displacements has also failed.

While many poor countries are not responsible for climate-induced disasters and their reluctance to invest in DRR is therefore understandable, they must still consider investing both external and their own funds into reduction measures. Otherwise they risk abandoning their duty to protect their citizens by leaving them vulnerable.

While the state has the overall responsibility of reducing disaster risk, managing risks is a shared responsibility between government and relevant stakeholders. Non-state actors play a key role as enablers in providing support to states, in accordance with national policies, laws and regulations, in the implementation of the risk reduction framework at various levels.

Kigali City is carrying out fresh demarcations of households in disaster-prone areas, even as authorities try to come up with ways of dealing with homeowners who are resisting moving out despite recurrent natural disasters. The exercise is focusing on houses built on the slopes of hills like Mount Kigali in Nyarugenge District, Jali in Gasabo and Rebero in Kicukiro.

Rwanda, Kenya, Tanzania and Ethiopia have joined a new group of 20 developing countries that hope to press for tougher action to curb global warming, ahead of the United Nations climate talks in Paris this December, reports the East African. In a statement, V20 called for 'improved' access to international climate change finance for adaptation and mitigation actions...

'No single state has the capacity to individually deal with all disasters as they arise. The five [East African] countries need to devote more financial and human resources to disaster management,' said Odhiambo Makoloo, the director of the Institute for Law and Environmental Governance...