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Leonard Ncube,[email protected]

The Roman Catholic Church has added its voice to the call to address climate change-induced shocks and other challenges facing the African continent to drive the motherland towards “the Africa We want.”

Religious leaders and traditional leaders are the most trusted institutions by citizens, according to some studies, hence their inclusion in programming and mitigation activities would go a long way in closing the information gap.

Representatives of the Catholic Church attended the 56th Session of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (Uneca) Conference of African Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development which ended in Victoria Falls recently.

The weeklong conference was a platform for fostering collaboration in the continent to unlock potential and green financing as well as integration between member States.

The conference was held under the theme:  “Financing the Transition to Inclusive Green Economies in Africa: Imperatives, Opportunities and Policy Options.”

Speaking to journalists on the sidelines of the proceedings, Reverend Fr Charles Chilufya who is director of the Jesuits Conference of Africa and Madagascar on justice and ecology said various impediments make it difficult for Africa to achieve its goals hence the need for interface by stakeholders.

“This is a very important conversation as it fundamentally brings together Ministers of Finance from the whole of Africa as we all need and desire development and that our planet be protected. So to develop and protect justice we need finance hence it makes sense that Finance Ministers come together for eradication of poverty and protection of the planet,” he said.

Rev Fr Chilufya called for transparent use of resources and cascading of information to ordinary Zimbabweans, especially about debt servicing as African states suffer from increasing debt.

He said the conference has been a platform to look at very creative ways of ensuring that the finances flow to Africa.

“So we are here to look at various components of that which include debt which is one way our finances leak out. We are the church and we are here because we should think together so that whatever we design ensures that the human person and planet protection is at the centre.

“We are here not only as a church but together as brothers and sisters and we need to collaborate and work together towards one common goal and make sure everyone has equal access to resources. That is what we are concerned about so that there is no gap in the way we use resources,” said Rev Fr Chilufya.

Fr Gabriel Mapulanga from Zambia, who is director of Caritas, a Catholic development agency said the focus should be on the development of the whole person in terms of social, economic and cultural aspects.

“We are interested in livelihoods, especially of the poor and climate. We fight for people to raise their voices, rights, governance and decentralisation where people should make their own decisions;  corruption, child protection and peacebuilding. The poor are the most hit by climate change so what we do as the Catholic Church we pay a lot of attention to the preferential option for the poor,” he said.

Programmes manager at Silveira House which is run by Jesuit priests in Harare Mr Alois Madhekeni said: “We are a social justice and development centre run by Jesuits. There is a need for the church to simplify discussions and recommendations from the conference for ordinary citizens to understand and be able to participate in advocacy and transition activities.

“We are here to add the voice of the church as it pertains to the global financial architecture and promote the effective allocation of resources between the global north and south. Looking at the fact that Zimbabwe is currently going through a data restructuring process, this process would need us to go as a united nation as the government, church and civic society speaking in one voice,” said Mr Madhekeni.

He implored African countries to speak with one voice.

“We are here so that we get information for the ordinary People in the community as we promote access to information and empower people on what they have to do to address climate change,” he said.

Mr Madhekeni said they work with Government institutions, Parliament, communities and other institutions to promote climate mitigation strategies through green climate activities and education.