World Environment Day 2023

Thank God man cannot fly, and lay waste the sky as well as the earth. June 05, 2023 at Mavuso Trade Centre, Women Unlimited in partnership with the EEFA hosted a Waste Conference in commemoration of the World Environmental Day 2023. Under the theme “solution to plastic pollution”.  World environmental day is the most significant international day commemorating the environment, led by the United Nations environmental outreach, and is celebrated by millions of people across the world. Attendees of the Eswatini commemoration event included the Honorable Minister of Tourism Moses Vilakati, the Honorable Minister of Agriculture, DPMO, UNDP Resident Coordinator, Amina J. Mohammed, Taiwan Ambassadors, CANGO executive director, the CEO & board of EEA and many more valued stakeholders.

In her speech, Amina J. Mohammed highlighted estimates of plastic currently found in the ocean which is around 75 to 199 million tonnes, and the amount of plastic waste entering aquatic ecosystems could nearly triple from 9 to 14 million tonnes per year in 2016 to a projected 23 to 37 million tonnes per year by 2040. She further stated that, from the 1950s to the 1970s only a small amount of plastic was produced and as a result, plastic waste was relatively manageable. In comparison, between the 1970s and the 1990s plastic waste generated more than tripled, reflecting a similar rise in plastic production. The 2000 the number increased drastically. The UNDP Resident Coordinator concluded by encouraging a call to action to the public and the attendees to do away with the plastic products mainly the bottles, turn plastic waste into resources, create jobs and reduce pollutions, and use the World environmental day as a call to reduce plastic use.

Women Unlimited Executive Director also stated and explained that waste management is an empowerment opportunity for women in impoverished communities, and that the exploration of strategies to improve their livelihoods that take advantage of their expertise and experience in recycling is lacking. The goal of Women Unlimited as an organization is that women are engaged and involved in the complete value chain of waste.

According to Dr. Wisdom M.D Dlamini waste contributes to the diseases that emaSwati suffer from such as cancer. Therefore emaSwati are urged to take action towards plastic pollution because one of the greatest threats to our planet is the belief that someone else will save it.

End plastic pollution!