Page 83 - 40th Summit Brochure 2020

are important sources of protein and minerals parts of the United Republic of Tanzania, killing
for people. T e lake resources have signif cant more than 40 people, and leaving many people
markets and potential for improving livelihoods displaced. T ese impacts were also felt in north-
and income generation, provided that improved ern Malawi. In both countries, many people
management and value-chain approaches are were lef homeless and had to be accommodated
taken. To this end, institutional arrangements to in makeshif shelters.
ef ectively manage the shared resources were es- Following a weather system that formed in
tablished and operationalized, including imple- the Mozambique Channel on 17 January 2020,
mentation of the Joint Management Plan, which widespread rains and f oods hit the north-west
the two countries are now managing to ensure of Madagascar on 22 January 2020. T e torren-
reduction of f shing pressure, adoption of best tial rains af ected 106,846 people in seven re-
practices and ecosystem approaches to f sheries gions of the country, displacing more than
management and aquaculture, and strengthen- 16,000 people and leaving at least 31 dead and
ing of capacity for f sheries Monitoring, Control several people missing. T e heavy rains and
and Surveillance (MCS) as well as scientif c f oods damaged key infrastructure, including
studies on stock levels as well as environment, roads, houses and schools in several locations.
including climate change impacts on f sheries More than 10,600 houses were f ooded while
resources and the f shing communities, espe- 146 were destroyed. Across the seven regions,
cially women and youth. some 6,600 students were lef out of school or
continued to learn in makeshif classrooms as a
Disaster Risk Management result of the damage to their classrooms. T e
T e SADC region continues to be extremely f ooding also af ected several low-lying areas
vulnerable to multiple climate change-induced that were used to grow crops, mainly rice, with
risks and extreme weather events such as potential to impact negatively on the harvest for
drought, f oods, cyclones and storm surges as the 2019/20 cropping season.
well as high waves and sea level rises, heat waves Madagascar declared a State of Emergency
and wild f res. Projections are that these climate on 24 January 2020 and activated the humani-
change-induced risks and extreme weather tarian response through a State of Emergency.
80 events will increase in frequency and severity. Tanzania, as the current SADC Chairperson,
Following Tropical Cyclones Idai and Ken- acted swif ly and approved the release of
neth in the f rst quarter of 2019, the region con- US$250,000 to support Madagascar. SADC also
tinued to be af ected by cyclones in the 2019/20 issued a statement appealing to partners to sup-
season. In December 2019, the region was hit by port Madagascar.
a number of tropical cyclones and storms. On 9 Due to these risks, the SADC Secretariat
December 2019, Cyclone Belna hit Madagascar continued to issue advisories to alert Member
causing heavy rains and f ooding that resulted States of impending cyclones and heavy rains
in the death of nine people, with many people that had the likelihood of causing f ash f oods.
injured, and the displacement of more than T e Secretariat is working with Member States
1,400 people. Over the same period, high levels to f nalise and operationalize the SADC Disaster
of moisture from the Indian Ocean resulted in Preparedness and Response Mechanism, which
torrential rains in Botswana, Comoros, Mada- seeks to provide timely and accurate weather
gascar, Mozambique and South Africa that re- and climate information to ensure preparedness
sulted in the destruction of infrastructure, and facilitate ef ective disaster-response and re-
injuries and loss of lives. covery ef orts. T e mechanism is intended to
Between December 2019 and January 2020, help SADC to be better prepared and coordi-
several Member States experienced above-nor- nated in dealing with disasters across the region.
mal rains resulting in f ash f oods and destruc- T e impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has
tion of livelihood assets and loss of lives, diverted the attention of Member States to this
including Angola, Botswana, Madagascar, priority focus and away from other priorities, in-
Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania, cluding disaster preparedness and response,
Zambia and Zimbabwe. Towards the end of Jan- with most attention during the f rst half of 2020
uary 2020, torrential rains and f oods devastated drawn towards increasing healthcare and liveli-
hood support in response to COVID-19. T e
SADC Secretariat continued to support Member
States in implementing COVID-19 response
measures, including the coordination of other
socio-economic impacts of the pandemic on
countries.