The International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies or IFRC is calling for urgent investment in local action to combat effects of the climate change in Africa.
The call comes ahead of the 6th European Union-African Union Summit taking place on Friday in Brussels, Belgium.
IFRC Africa Regional Director Mohammed Mukhier said “We need to strengthen investments in local preventative measures that build people’s ability to cope with these intensifying disasters.”
He stressed that what leaders are witnessing is a manifestation of the impact of climate change on the continent.
The IFRC calls for renewed efforts to build a new Africa-EU partnership that would answer to the needs of the most vulnerable people exposed to the impacts of climate change and the environmental crisis.
It said the role of local actors should be strengthened to support communities in building resilience and addressing humanitarian and development challenges on the continent.
Communities in Africa and elsewhere are also increasingly impacted by multiple hazards in addition to the changing climate, which are compounding their vulnerabilities and affecting their capacity to cope.
“Communities can hardly recover before they are hit by another disaster” said Andoniaina Ratsimamanga, Secretary-General of the Malagasy Red Cross Society.
He said “Madagascar is a case in point where we saw a devastating drought last year, and before those effects could be relieved, some of those same communities have been impacted by cyclone Batsirai recently”.