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The Catholic Church in Eastern Province has called on government to collaborate with the church and traditional leaders in the distribution of relief food.
Chipata Catholic Diocese Bishop, George Lungu, said this was in order to reach out to the many intended beneficiaries during the national drought and emergency period.
Lungu told Zambia Monitor in Chipata district on Tuesday that although it was a primary responsibility of the government to look after its people, coordinated efforts were needed in the distribution of relief in order not to blame each other.
He noted the need for government to also put in place a proper system that would ensure that the intended people receive the relief food.
“We are just in April and we have several months before January 2025.I am aware that some have completely nothing and action is now before the situation worsens,” Lungu said.
He stated that the collaboration could help to ensure that no one dies or starves from hunger starvation.
Lungu noted the need for the government to make information public on what it was doing to sort out the hunger situation so that people could make informed decisions.
“The government should say these are our initiatives we have come up with in order to address the issue at hand by putting in place a system which can address the same issue.Not only the Church but let us work as one and even the community should be included in the collaborations,” he said.
Lungu added that there was need for different stakeholders to preserve nature and also learn to plant trees in order to deal with climate change.
He said global climate change had posed one of the greatest threats to people as evidenced with the droughts that had been experienced during the 2023/2024 season.
“It is sad that caring for the environment is a challenge. Every individual and stakeholders must accept responsibility for caring for God’s creation,” Lungu advised.
He noted that caring for the environment was a challenge for every human being stating that global action was needed as espoused by Pope Francis of the Catholic Church.
Lungu said the people had a particular duty to address the moral and human implications of climate change through planting of trees.
“The attention to the environment must also reflect the special concern for the poorest members of the human community as poverty and environmental degradation often go hand in hand,” he stated.
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