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Malawi prepares for Rio + 10 summit
By
Raphael Mweninguwe - 18-04-2002 |
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Malawi is one of the UN member states which attended the 1992 Summit on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Four major outputs came out of the summit: Rio Declaration on Environment and Development; Statement of Forests Principles; Agenda 21; and Convention on Biological Diversity and Convention on Climate Change.
Agenda 21 outlines what governments are supposed to have done in the past 10 years.
They include developing more precise ways of predicting levels of atmosphere pollutants and greenhouse gas emissions; developing policies that take into account the land-resource base, pollution changes and the interests of local people; and improving and enforcing laws and regulations to support the sustainable use of land.
Ten years have elapsed since the first summit. The UN member states will this year be meeting at another conference in Johannesburg, South Africa between August 26 and September 4.
The meeting, dubbed World Summit on Sustainable Development or Rio + 10 is going to take stock of what governments have done since Rio.
Malawi says it has made significant strides in the management of the environment.
Principal Secretary for the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Affairs George Mkondiwa says the country has since the 1992 summit put in place policies and legal instruments. These he said are making it possible for the local communities to participate in the management of natural resources and the environment.
He also observes that issues such as HIV/Aids and globalisation have been put on board.
“Issues of Aids and globalisation were not really contained in Agenda 21. These are some of the issues which will be discussed at the summit,” he says.
Director of Department of Environmental Affairs Ralph Kabwaza says the Malawi Government has since Rio been putting in place structures to guide the nation in implementing Agenda 21.
“First we had to come up with the National Environmental Action Plan [Neap 1994] and the Environment Support Programme [ESP],” he says.
Kabwaza says Neap culminated into the National Environmental Policy in 1996 and an Environmental Management Act the following year.
Other policies and Acts resulting from Neap are those dealing with fisheries, forestry and wildlife.
The Acts empower local communities to take part in the management of natural resources and the environment.
The communities can also make their own by-laws subject to approval by the minister responsible.
Kabwaza says poverty is Malawi’s main cause of environmental degradation. Statistics show that 65 percent of the 11 million people live below the poverty line of less than one US dollar a day.
The Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) recognises that poverty cannot be eradicated without tackling the environmental problems facing the country.
The major environmental problems resulting from poverty include soil erosion, deforestation, threat to fish resources and biodiversity, high population growth, air and water pollution and climate change.
The country’s report, to be presented to the summit, has these issues but Kabwaza adds that HIV/Aids has also been included in the document because it impacts on the economy of the country.
The government has also sought the input of NGOs in drafting the report. Government says it recognises the role NGOs play in the management of natural resources in the country.
During the Rio summit, NGOs from different parts of the world were represented.
The Co-ordination Unit for the Rehabilitation of the Environment (Cure) executive director Tadeyo Shaba says government and NGOs need to work together if government’s programme of poverty alleviation is to be achieved.
Shaba says NGOs work with government in many areas including in the management of natural resources and the environment.
He, however, says NGOs are facing enormous challenges, including financing.
Despite setting up the Department of Environmental Affairs and passing the Acts on environment, the impact at grassroots level has not been positive.
Laws aimed at managing the environment and natural resources are not been enforced. Experts say shortage of staff and lack of funds are some of the causes.
Political interference is yet another big problem. Law enforcers sometimes fear for their jobs to apprehend people connected to political elites.
The State of the Environ-ment Report 2001 gives a gloomy picture. The population has gone up to 12 million for the past 10 years. sixty percent of them cannot produce sufficient food in 2002.
Urbanisation is another challenge facing the country. The urban population has increased by 30 percent in the past 20 years resulting in the proliferation of squatter settlements and poor sanitation.
It is expected that Malawi will table these issues at the summit to seek support of the international communities. |
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