(HERALD) No Zim, no summit: Sadc
No Zim, no summit: SadcFrom Caesar Zvayi at the United Nations, New York
SADC notched the stakes higher when its chairman, President Levy Mwanawasa of Zambia, met with President Mugabe here on Monday night and officially communicated to him that Sadc would not be part of the European Union-Africa Summit, set for Portugal in December, if Zimbabwe is barred from attending.
President Mwanawasa was speaking to Zimbabwean and Zambian journalists after paying a courtesy call on President Mugabe at New York Palace Hotel. Said Mr Mwanawasa: ‘‘No Zimbabwe, no summit; Zimbabwe has to be invited. It would be sad, indeed, if they (Zimbabwe) are forced not to go.’’
Pressed on whether the region shared his sentiments, Mr Mwanawasa said he was not only reiterating what he said last week but also expressing Sadc’s official position in his capacity as chairman.
Prior to his departure for New York, Mr Mwanawasa was quoted by Zambian newspapers saying Sadc might boycott the EU-Africa Summit if the European bloc balked to pressure from London to bar Zimbabwe from the summit.
The Sadc chairman was reacting to British Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s announcement that he would not attend the summit if Cde Mugabe was invited.
Speaking to journalists at Lusaka International Airport, Mr Mwanawasa said President Mugabe’s exclusion would not be in the interests of dialogue as Sadc would boycott the summit.
In threatening to boycott the Lisbon summit, Mr Brown claimed President Mugabe’s presence in Portugal would divert attention from important issues such as poverty, climate change and health, a posture that has been questioned by analysts who wonder why he has not boycotted the United Nations General Assembly.
Portugal, which has repeatedly defended Zimbabwe’s participation, has said the potential rewards of closer ties between Africa and Europe outweigh the antagonism between Britain and Zimbabwe.
The EU is keen to regain control on the continent, especially on the back of growing Sino-African ties which have seen China’s influence soaring in recent years.
In a related matter, the South African Broadcasting Corporation reports that the European Commission says inviting President Mugabe to the summit should be seen as a window of opportunity by EU leaders rather than a reason for not attending.
Commission spokesperson Amadeu Tario was quoted saying if Zimbabwe attends, it should be asked to explain its case.
Zimbabwe has always been willing to explain its situation, which has been misrepresented by the Western media’s propaganda led by the British Broadcasting Corporation.
Earlier in the day, President Mugabe met his Iranian counterpart, Mr Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, at the UN Headquarters to discuss areas of mutual interest. Zimbabwe’s Ambassador to the UN Cde Boniface Chidyausiku said the two leaders discussed bilateral issues.
‘‘Among the issues discussed was the implementation of the agreement of the last joint session (of the Zimbabwe-Iran Joint Commission) which currently exists on paper.
‘‘The leaders also discussed the need to come up with a Coalition for Peace in response to the aggression of the global bullies.’’
President Mugabe also expressed outrage over the way the Iranian leader was treated at Columbia University where he had been invited to address students by the university authorities.
The president of the university, Mr Lee Bollinger, used the occasion to denigrate and call the Iranian leader names in his introductory remarks.
Mr Bollinger, however, ate humble pie when the Iranian leader calmly rebuked him by reminding him that basic etiquette entails courtesy for guests, and instead gave Mr Bollinger a list of Iranian universities, that he said US officials were free to come and address.
Zimbabwe and Iran have strong bilateral relations and a progressive anti-imperialist stance that has seen the United States dub them "axes of evil" and "outposts of tyranny".
President Mugabe and his delegation flew into New York on Sunday and were met at John F. Kennedy International Airport by Cde Chidyausiku, Zimbabwe’s Ambassador to the United States Cde Machivenyika Mapuranga and embassy staff.
Meanwhile, President Mugabe has said Africa should come up with a Special Adaptation Fund to address its low adaptive capacity to the effects of climate change.
In a speech read on his behalf by Environment and Tourism Minister Cde Francis Nhema, the President told the High-Level Plenary Session for heads of state and government convened by UN Secretary General Mr Ban Ki-Moon on Monday, that there is need for real action on adaptation, moving from planning and assessment to implementation and practical action.
‘‘Climate change is one of the biggest threats facing mankind today. Science has clearly demonstrated that there is extreme urgency in taking real action to avoid irreversible damages to our planet.
"Both the Third and Fourth Assessment Reports (FAR) of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate (IPCC) state that Africa will suffer the most from the impacts of climate change.
‘‘The serious underdevelopment of the continent signifies high vulnerability to climate change impacts due to its limited capacity to adapt. We from the most vulnerable continent, therefore, welcome the attention that this global threat is receiving from the UN,’’ Cde Mugabe said.
This is the first time in the history of the UN that heads of state and government have convened a high-level plenary meeting on climate change, emphasising the importance and urgency of the matter to the 192 member states.
Increasing global temperatures, the President said, are associated with undesirable climate change impacts such as the melting of polar ice, rising sea levels, floods, droughts, resurgence of malaria in areas that were not prone to the disease before, loss of bio-diversity and shifting of existing agricultural zones.
Since the turn of the millennium, Southern Africa has been ravaged by successive seasons of drought attributed to aridity stemming from increasing temperatures. Much of sub-Saharan Africa is currently facing a severe energy crisis and food shortages attributed to low rainfall and receding dam levels.
The President said studies conducted in Zimbabwe had revealed evidence of global warming.
‘‘A set of climatic extremes that were analysed showed that the monthly highest daily maximum temperatures for most of the country are on the increase, by about two degrees centigrade per century.
‘‘The percentage of days with low temperatures is decreasing. From the analysis, it can be concluded that the number of cold days is decreasing at the rate of about 15 days per century.’’
The President said climate change poses one of the most serious food security challenges of the 21st century in Zimbabwe as predictions showed that agricultural productivity could decrease by 30 percent this century.
Zimbabwe and many other countries in the region are facing food security challenges that have been attributed to increasing aridity, though detractors claim the country’s food security situation stems from the land reform programme.
The President said there is need for farmers to explore new agricultural practices, including choice of crop varieties, timing of major operations and designing of alternative food supply systems.
‘‘It is worrisome that the capabilities of households, communities and relevant institutions to appropriately respond to these changing conditions in order to reduce vulnerability and future threats to food security and environmental integrity, are low in Zimbabwe.’’
The President said world leaders, under the United Nations Convention Framework on Climate Change, should intensify adaptation support to developing countries in the form of new additional financial resources, technology transfer, and capacity building as there is enough documentation.
President Mugabe said concrete decisions should come out of international deliberations on issues relating to funding for adaptation projects for developing countries, funding for capacity building for developing countries in the areas of clean development mechanism, impact and vulnerability assessments, and operationalisation of the special climate change fund as well as support for research and systematic observation.
He proposed that one of the Climate Change envoys be appointed from Africa.
Labels: SADC, THE HERALD
posted by MrK @ 4:16 AM
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