The Minister of Public Works, Housing and Water Resources called on the Zambezi Watercourse Commission (ZAMCOM) to commit to joint efforts to ensure the sustainable management and use of natural resources and the Miombo forest, which covers two thirds of Mozambique's surface.

Mesquita made the invitation during the opening of the 11th Meeting of the Council of Ministers of the Zambezi River Basin Commission, which took place on Thursday and Friday, April 25 and 26, in Tete, involving ministers and deputy ministers from the member countries of this body of the Zambezi Commission, responsible for the management of water resources in Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Tanzania, Zambia, Mozambique and Zimbabwe, with the aim of discussing the promotion, use and sustainable management of water resources in this basin.

On the occasion, he said that, through events of this nature, Mozambique aims to stimulate the will of governments and their leaders to ensure transparent management and governance of natural resources, especially the Miombo Forest, in the southern region of Africa, which makes a significant contribution to the management of the Zambezi River Basin, and to the sustainable development of the region and the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Given the awareness that the country is prone to phenomena that threaten the livelihood of the environment, Mozambique recently organized the International Conference on the Sustainable Management of the Miombo Forest, as a strategy to mobilize funding to safeguard its natural heritage.

"This meeting is being held at a time when Mozambique is suffering from the effects of the heavy rains and strong winds caused by Cyclone Filipo and also the low pressure system that caused heavy rains, causing flooding in the southern region of Mozambique, affecting thousands of fellow citizens, which has required us all to take extra action to deal with these situations," said Carlos Mesquita.

The drought, combined with flooding, poses major challenges for the management of water resources, water supply and sanitation, since efforts must be directed towards integrated management of water resources, which, for the government official, involves the construction, maintenance, rehabilitation and proper operation of hydraulic infrastructures, equipping them with the concepts of resilience to climatic events.

In another development, Carlos Mesquita said that the Zambezi Commission had made a number of achievements in implementing the Strategic Plan for the Zambezi:

"In the last financial year, we witnessed the signing of the Financing Agreement with the African Development Bank (AfDB) for the implementation of the Program for Integrated Development and Adaptation to Climate Change in the Zambezi Basin (PIDACC), having started in two riparian states, namely Mozambique and Zambia," he said.

The total resources mobilized through the AfDB amounted to around 17 million US dollars. Six countries, namely Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, the United Republic of Tanzania and Zimbabwe, submitted letters of endorsement and project proposals for AfDB funding under phase 2 of PIDACC.

"During the same period, we also saw the signing of an agreement between the Zambezi Commission and the AfDB for one million US dollars to support the preparation of the Zambezi Region Investment Plan on Nature, People and Climate, and the entry of a new partner in the Zambezi region, SWEDFUND International, a development finance institution from the Kingdom of Sweden.

A grant agreement was also signed between ZAMCOM and SWEDFUND for eight million Swedish kronor to support the Zambezi Commission in carrying out a study to increase water storage capacity in the Zambezi River Basin," he concluded.