Australia Ambassador for Gender Equality, Stephanie Copus Campbell on Thursday said Malawi will take long to recover from Cyclone Freddy effects saying the unfortunate incident has greatly affected the livelihood of many people in the country.
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Campbell said the occurrence of Tropical Cyclone is reality of climate change that everybody should be mindful of.
Speaking in an interview after visiting Mchenga village in Sub-Traditional Authority Phweremwe and Group village Khulambe in Traditional Authority Nkhulambe in Phalombe district, Campbell said the damage that Cyclone brought is just huge to recover instantly.
“I wanted to appreciate the impact of Tropical Cyclone Freddy in the district on how the lives of women and girls were disproportionately affected by the disaster and how they are recovering from it.
“This is really showing how devastated and disproportionate climate change has on women and girls who are heavily affected. They are also in the forefront to come up with solutions on how and where to rebuild and keep their families safe,” she said.
Campbell said is sad that climate change continues affecting the lives of women and girls and this would increase cases of human trafficking, early marriages and violation of child rights among others.
United Nations (UN) Women country representative, Late Chiwala said listening to women narrating the experiences they had and what they are going through, requires more action and pledged to continue supporting them with funding from Australian government in finding solutions for resilient livelihood activities for them to reproduce again and also teach them to make brigades for business.
Speaking earlier Rev. Moses Chimphepo, Director of Preparedness and Response from Department of Disaster Management Affairs (Dodma) said they have been working with UN Women since Cyclone Freddy occurred by jointly doing initial assessment and mobilising resources to assist Cyclone Freddy survivors, among others.
He advised communities not to build again, but to wait for government relocation process saying currently authorities are mobilising resources so that people can construct houses with the help of the Councils.
Deputy Director of Gender in the department of Gender Affairs, Ronald Phiri commended UN Women for the passion, commitment and support rendered to women and girls who have been affected by Cyclone.
The visiting team will also assist in strategizing the implementation of Women Resilience to Disaster project that Dodma and Ministry of Gender, Community Development and Social Welfare will be rolling out in the coming months with support from the Australian government through UN Women.
