Department of Environmental Affairs environmental inspector Linda Kalolokesya says there is need to ensure that participants in the Climate Smart Enhanced Public Works Programme are safe from work-related hazards.
She said this on Wednesday in Kasungu District during a day-long training for members of the district environmental sub-committee, a technical working group that supervises the programme’s activities.
Said Kalolokesya: “We understand that some activities in the programme could potentially harm the participants if safety issues are ignored. You talk of making stone bands, digging swales and the like. We need to train the participants on how to avoid accidents.”
She said there is also need to raise awareness on gender-based violence to avoid sexual exploitation in the course of implementing the programme.
“We feel it is important that people know about gender-based violence and sexual exploitation that could happen around them,” said Kalolokesya.
Kasungu district forestry officer Charles Lungu said the training came at the right time when stakeholders were preparing for the second phase of the programme.
He said: “The training is important for our work. Firstly, it is important that the participants are aware of the hazards related to the activities they do so that they devise ways of preventing accidents.
“Secondly, the programme enrolls both men and women and is it pertinent that we create space for everyone to participate freely.” Funded by the World Bank, through the National Local Government Finance Committee, the programme seeks to check land degradation, biodiversity loss and climate change
