Bugolobi, Uganda: Caritas Uganda in partnership with OXFAM Uganda and CIDI, held a thought-provoking symposium during International Mother Earth Day, which takes place every 22nd of April.
The event, which took place on 25th, April 2023 at Silver Springs Bugolobi, was attended by different stakeholders in environmental management, politicians, government officials, students, CSOs, and the media.
The symposium aimed at raising public awareness on the challenges to the well-being of the planet and all the life it supports. It recognized a collective responsibility to promote harmony with nature and Mother Earth and to achieve a just balance among the economic, social, and environmental needs of the present and future generations of humanity.
The discussion tackled issues hindering waste management campaigns and what should be done to address the issue of waste; which was said to maliciously damage and impact negatively on Mother Earth.
According to the World Economic Forum, nations worldwide produce around 350 million metric tons of plastic waste every year, equivalent to over 10 million fully loaded garbage trucks. Most of this plastic waste is either incinerated or sent to landfills, thus eventually polluting the air, land, and oceans, adding that only a fraction of this waste is recycled, and just 2% is traded internationally. The symposium also presented a platform for young innovators and farmers to showcase their work.
During the symposium, the Assistant Commissioner at the Ministry of Water and Environment; Mr. Albert Orijabo, emphasized the need to sustainably exploit, conserve, restore and utilize the earth's resources; adding that the ministry's core mandate was to develop water resources and support the development of legal frameworks that support environment conservation.
Meanwhile, Mr. Charles Opiyo, the Resilience Livelihood Manager at OXFARM Uganda emphasized individual efforts to take care of the earth through proper disposal and responsible consumption and exploitation of natural resources that should be done sustainably for future generations.
Mr. Opiyo urged the private sector to be innovative and ensure that materials used for packaging are recyclable and called for more awareness so that people understand the danger of hurting the only mother earth we have.
Ms. Hellen Kasuja, the Executive Director of CIDI Uganda, said that the symposium aimed to remind participants that individual actions must be complemented by collective action, collaboration, cooperation, and partnerships if mother earth is to be saved.
She further said that the event was an opportunity to amplify the call to action to the industrialists to put mechanisms in place to purify or ensure that they don’t pollute the air, water, and wastewater are well treated and that all products and by-products must create a chain to ensure that they are recycled and limit damage to the Mother planet.
Ms. Aguti Betty Rose Aguti on her part challenged Government to take on the issue of garbage as a serious issues saying that there was garbage all over the roads, with animals feasting on the garbage.
Ms. Aguti Called on government to take up what was called extended producers’ responsibility and said this was provided for by the NEMA Act but that little was being done. She also challenged the different leaders to emulate countries like Kenya and other East Africa countries in enforcing extended produce responsibility.