Migori County Climate Change Actors have welcomed the move for harmonising the Climate Change Policy to effectively tackle the effects of climate change in the region. Non-Governmental Organization Devolution and Climate Change Adaption Action (Dacca) Project Officer Nancy Ng’onga applauded the move by the Lake Region Economic Block (LREB) in ratifying a resolution to harmonise the Climate change policy to help mitigate the challenges of climate change in the region. The harmonisation of the climate change policy in the legal framework of the LREB Bill 2019 has been ratified by 10 out of 14 County Assemblies and signed into law by respective governors will help to address more challenges that affect the region including the effects of climate change. The 14 LREB counties of Bomet, Kericho, Nandi, Bungoma, TransNzoia, Busia, Kakamega, Vihiga, Siaya, Homabay, Kisumu, Migori, Kisii and Nyamira have almost the same climate pattern although different counties may experience different effects of climate change. Ng’onga who spoke during an engagement session with Migori youths and climate actors in Migori town explained that it was important to have a common climate change policy that is harmonised to effectively address the effects of climate change in our region. She, however, called upon the LREB to come up with a cross-cutting strategy to inform the region on how they can pull resources towards addressing the issues of climate change that affect the Lake Region. The Dacca official also affirmed that her organisation has been supporting the establishment of the ward climate change committees to help mitigate, monitor and enhance the effects of climate change in the county. Ng’onga noted that Dacca will focus on ward areas that have not yet implemented policies according to the climate change Act. She noted that the implementation process and the monitoring aspect of the policy actions should be able to be measured in terms achievement of goals to effectively address climate change migration process. The Dacca official added that the NGO will also help to enlighten the climate change actors on how to engage the media for effective climate change messages and advocacy. She encouraged the actors to identify success stories at ward levels for effective and positive change among the public. ‘The media will help the public to understand every step the climate change actors and policymakers were implementing if success stories are aired by the media’, said Ng’onga Migori County Civil Society Vice Chairperson Titus Orwa said that the workshop will assist the Climate change actors to review some of the implementation successes the county has made. Orwa affirmed that Migori County Climate Change Policy Act and the Climate Change Fund Act had already been launched awaiting the implementation process. He urged the county government climate change committee to share the implementation plan in order for the climate change actors to track the progress of the report. Orwa also called upon the county to ensure a balanced composition of climate change committee members as per the recommendations of the Migori Climate Change and Funds Act. He applauded the Devolution and Climate Change Adaption Action for tailoring their programme at the ward levels to ensure that climate change is enacted at the lowest levels of the devolved units.
Source: Kenya News Agency