Hassan Istiila
Saturday February 24, 2024
Mogadishu (HOL) - Somali Prime Minister Hamza Abdi Barre presided over a meeting on the effects of climate change and ways to tackle their causes in the country following the recent El Nino floods that killed 120 people.
During the meeting on Saturday, experts and the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change presented reports on the different effects of climate change in the country, its levels, and plans to cope with them. They also discussed national plans to reduce air pollution and enhance resilience.
Prime Minister Barre emphasized that climate change directly impacted Somalia, particularly the environment, which showed significant changes. He instructed government agencies to devise measures to prevent and address areas requiring special attention.
On Wednesday, Somalia launched a new program to build the resilience of households and local communities to economic and climate-related shocks in four districts of Puntland and Galmudug states. The program will target one million people in the two states and will be implemented over 18 months in the first phase.
The joint action of the World Food Program (WFP) and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) will play a central role in addressing the effects of climate-related shocks, food security, nutrition, education, and health.
At least 270 people are reported to have died in Somalia, Kenya, and southern Ethiopia as a result of the El-Nino floods from October to December last year. In Somalia alone, more than 120 people have died in flash floods.
An El Nino is a natural, temporary and occasional warming of part of the Pacific that shifts weather patterns across the globe, often by moving the airborne paths for storms. It its hardest in December through February. Scientists believe climate change is making El Nino stronger.