Local lore is that August is Kenya's cursed month due to the inexplicably high number of disasters. Kenya takes global centre stage to come up with ways to eliminate the rising threat of terrorism to global peace and security. With rapid urbanization and globalization heralds the evolution of organised terror activities, which target social centres particularly shopping malls, hotels, places of worship, all being popular gathering points for urban dwellers. This draws the need for concentrated efforts to consolidate states on a single front to combat global terror. However, such efforts fail in one significant area, preparing the public in anti-terror campaigns.
Screenshot from The Weekly Citizen
As terrorism evolves beyond traditional hotspots in war-torn regions to bustling metropolises in both developing and developed states, history could serve as a starting point to tackling this threat. During the Cold War, the nuclear powers implemented programs aimed at maintaining civility in the event of nuclear war. The United States of America and Great Britain made elaborate plans to ensure continuity of governments as well as disaster containment plans. However, a decade into the 21st Century, terrorism has taken over as the single greatest threat to global security thus bringing back into focus, the need for a national civil defence plan. The United States of America implemented the Homeland Security Act in 2002 after the September 2001 attacks, which that established a cabinet post tasked with the government’s response to an array of scenarios including natural disasters and acts of terrorism. In Africa, Nigeria took the lead in establishing a Civil Defence Corps in 1980 which supplements the work of the national police service in maintaining law and order.
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Risks of Climate Change to Kenya
The International Committee of the Red Cross, in a advisory opinion on the role of civil defence in International Humanitarian Law, described it as precautions made for the protection of civilian populations against loss, damage and suffering in the event of warfare and natural disasters. Civil defence is a key pillar in international humanitarian law with the following delineated roles to civilian populations: warning, evacuation, management of shelters and power blackout measures, rescue, medical services – including first aid – and religious assistance, fire-fighting, detection and marking of danger areas, decontamination and similar protective measures, provision of emergency accommodation and supplies, emergency assistance in the restoration and maintenance of order in distressed areas and complementary activities needed to carry out any of th
Role of Legislation and Policy in Climate Resilience
Kenya has taken significant steps to mitigate the effects of national disasters since the 1998 United States Embassy bombings and a series of natural disasters including the recent ElNino flood risk which have been largely successful, although reactionary by design. The country ratified the Additional Protocol to the Geneva Protocol relating to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts in February 1999, barely a year after the US Embassy bombing in August 1998. The National Disaster Operations Centre, established in 1998 to co-ordinate civilian rescue operations has since adopted this reactionary approach despite the growing risk of natural calamities which threaten the very Kenyan way of life.
Climate Financing in Kenya
To consolidate her commitment towards mitigating climate change, Kenya formulated a Climate Action Plan in March 2013 within a wider National Climate Change Response Strategy in 2010. This 20-year strategy proposed an annual finance budget of US$ 3.14 billion (Kshs 300 billion) towards climate adaptation and mitigation programmes. In July 2015, Kenya's Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC) proposed a 15-year US$ 40 billion (Kshs 400 billion) budget in form of finance, investment, technology development and transfer, and capacity-building.