By Philip Tengzu
Wa (UW/R), July 21, GNA – Alhaji Baba Seidu Issifu, Minister of State for Climate Change and Sustainability, has initiated steps towards establishing Climate and Sustainability Units in all Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) in the Upper West Region.
The initiative forms part of government’s efforts to strengthen climate action and resilience at the local level.
Through the initiative, government will facilitate the establishment of dedicated units within the district assemblies to coordinate climate-related activities, promote behavioural change and improve access to climate financing opportunities.
Alhaji Issifu disclosed this during a meeting with some staff of the Upper West Regional Coordinating Council (RCC) as part of his official visit to the region.
As part of the visit, the Minister was expected to engage Municipal and District Chief Executives (MDCEs) and staff of various MMDAs on the need to take deliberate action to address climate change.
The engagement on Tuesday also marked the beginning of processes towards establishing the Climate and Sustainability Units within the assemblies.
Alhaji Issifu explained that the proposed units would be responsible for climate advocacy, reporting on climate-related activities and promoting positive environmental behaviours within their respective jurisdictions.
“We all agree that climate change is a behavioural phenomenon, and the need to engage the assemblies, who are the local authorities, is of paramount importance to my office,” the Minister said.
He said the initiative was particularly important at the local level because rural communities were among the most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.
“We know that any time we have these shocks, livelihoods are affected, homes are displaced, education is affected, and the whole value chain of our livelihood is affected.
“Most of the time, we find some of our women and children migrating from one place to another because of the hazards of climate change,” he observed.
The Minister noted that climate change had become a reality requiring deliberate and coordinated efforts by all stakeholders to adapt and mitigate its effects through capacity building and institutional support.
He called on the RCC to prioritise climate issues in its engagements with the assemblies and collaborate with his office to develop performance indicators that would facilitate climate financing opportunities for the districts.
Alhaji Issifu explained that establishing the units and developing key performance indicators (KPIs) for their operations could position the assemblies to attract support from donor agencies and climate financing institutions.
Pognaa Fati Issaka Koray of the Upper West Regional Coordinating Council described climate change as an issue that required attitudinal change and deliberate interventions at the grassroots level.
She commended the Ministry’s decision to engage the assemblies, describing them as the appropriate entry point for climate education and community mobilisation.
GNA
Edited by Audrey Dekalu
Reporter: Philip Tengzu, GNA