….says Polish Ambassador during talks with Zambian envoy Mukwita
Berlin, April 28, 2019
Climate change is closely linked to human rights says Ambassador Remiguisz Henczel of Poland who is in the Department of the United Nations and Human Rights of the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The top ranking diplomat made the remarks during a meeting with Zambia’s Ambassador to Germany, His Excellency Anthony Mukwita.
First Counselor in the same department, Ms. Monika Ekler accompanied Ambassador Henczel.
The Polish diplomat told Ambassador Mukwita that the adverse impact of climate change on human beings has led to his government’s decision to treat the issue as a human rights matter.
“This is why Poland has been supporting delegations from adversely affected nations that are both poor and developing to attend international conferences on climate change so that their voice may be heard on global forums”, said Ambassador Henczel.
Poland has hosted three climate change conferences under the auspices of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, UNFCCC, the latest being the Katowice conference held from the 2nd to the 14th of December 2018 that Ambassador Anthony Mukwita and Lands Minister Jean Kapata attended.
Currently, Poland holds the presidency of the climate change conference and the dialogue that takes place between now and the next conference.
To strengthen its role in the area of human rights, Poland is seeking a seat on the UN Human rights Council from 2020 when its current tenure on the Security Council comes to a close as the country seeks to continue engaging the UN system.
In his remarks, Ambassador Mukwita highlighted the long-standing relations between Zambia and Poland whose missionaries have been running Kasisis Mission, one of the largest and oldest charities in Zambia. Ambassador Mukwita told the two Polish diplomats of their country’s contribution to soccer when their national Wiesław Grabowski coached the Zambia National Soccer Team from 1983 to 1984.
“We want to deepen our engagement with Poland in many areas”, Ambassador Mukwita said. He disclosed that the discussions around the Government-to-Government (or G2G) line of credit to the tune of 100 million dollars for Ursus, a Polish tractor manufacturing company, to set up a tractor plant in Zambia have taken a new direction.
The Ambassador disclosed that the Polish government has suggested a new source of funding for the project that the Zambian government is currently studying.
President Edgar Lungu recently announced a great desire to establish a tractor and other agriculture equipment factory in Zambia in order to boost agriculture production, create jobs and reduce poverty.