Several weeks of heavy rain and flooding in the East African region affected 637,000 people and displaced 234 thousand in Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia, Ethiopia and Tanzania, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) announced this Wednesday.
“Devastating, unprecedented floods revealed the harsh realities of climate changeclaiming lives and displacing communities,” described the regional director for the East and Horn of Africa of the Organization for Migration, Rana Jaber, quoted in a statement released by the intergovernmental organization.
“As these people face the difficult task of rebuilding, their vulnerability will only worsen,” he added.
“At this critical time, even with the IOM response, there remains an urgency to make sustainable efforts to address human mobility driven by climate change,” the official said.
Torrential rains caused a series of disasters, including floods, landslides and severe damage to vital infrastructure such as roads, bridges and dams.
These events caused numerous fatalities, in addition to aggravating the risk of water-borne diseases, the statement highlights.
Africa is highly vulnerable to climate change, despite contributing only about 4% of global greenhouse gas emissions.
East and the Horn of Africa have been particularly affected by alternating cycles of drought and heavy rainfall. during the last decade, but this year there have been the heaviest rains and the worst floods recorded in decades in the affected countries of the region.
The International Organization for Migration emphasizes that it is “evident” that the debates on global climate change at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, which will be held in Germany next June – which will define the agenda of the Conference of the Parties – “must include considerations of human mobility.”
Source: Observadora
