PAP President Charumbira Calls for Stronger Parliamentary Action on Disaster Resilience at G20 P20 Summit

The President of the Pan African Parliament, His Excellency, Chief Fortune Zephania Charumbira, has made an impassioned plea to Speakers and Presiding Officers of Parliaments attending the 11th G20 Parliamentary Speakers’ Summit, to move from rhetoric to action in addressing pressing global developmental challenges or risk being perceived as another wasteful ‘talk show’

Addressing a working session of the 11th G20 Parliamentary Speakers’ Summit which was convened under the theme “Strengthening Disaster Resilience and Responses,” H.E. Chief Charumbira conveyed a sobering reminder to the meeting that, although the Speakers had been meeting under the auspices of the P20 since 2010, global development challenges were, in fact, getting worse and not better.

Framing the Imperative: Disaster Resilience as a Mandate of Governance

Chief Charumbira opened his remarks by situating the challenge of disasters not simply as a technical or humanitarian issue, but as a matter of governance and accountability. He observed that for many African nations, the increasing frequency and severity of climate-driven disasters such as floods, droughts, cyclones, heatwaves, and pandemics have exposed structural vulnerabilities in infrastructure, institutions, and legislative systems.

He reminded the audience that resilience must be conceived not just in terms of reactive response, but in proactive preparedness, risk reduction, mitigation, and recovery capacities.

·       Legislatures must assume a central role. Parliaments are uniquely positioned to legislate, oversight, mobilize budgets, and demand accountability in disaster management systems. Charumbira emphasized that legislative bodies should shift from passive endorsement to active stewardship in setting national resilience agendas.

·       Inter‑parliamentary cooperation is critical. In his address, he argued that many disasters cross national boundaries, whether through shared river basins, cross-border epidemics, or climate spillovers. Hence, parliamentary diplomacy is vital for harmonizing policies, sharing best practices, and ensuring mutual support mechanisms.

·       Inclusivity is non-negotiable. The president stressed that disaster resilience must not be for elites or limited geographies: women, youth, marginalized communities, rural areas, and informal urban settlements must be integrally included in planning, allocation, and decision-making. He offered that resilience efforts which exclude vulnerable populations risk deepening inequality and suffering.

By the end of his opening framing, Chief Charumbira painted resilience as a test of whether democratic institutions can protect the lives and dignity of citizens in turbulent times.

Key Appeals and Strategic Priorities

From his speach, the following priorities and appeals emerged as central to Charumbira’s vision for a strengthened, resilient Africa:

1. A Pan‑African Parliamentary Architecture for Disaster Resilience

Charumbira proposed that PAP, in collaboration with national parliaments and continental institutions, should develop a Pan-African legislative architecture or framework for resilience. This might include common model laws, guidelines, capacity‑building platforms, and harmonised oversight mechanisms. Such an architecture, he contended, would help harmonise national approaches and elevate African proposals in global negotiations.

2. Predictable and Accessible Financing for Resilience

A recurring barrier he highlighted is the lack of predictable, accessible financing for disaster risk reduction (DRR), adaptation, and post-disaster recovery, especially for low‑income countries. He called on G20 and developed nations to:

·       Increase concessional funding and grants dedicated to resilience and DRR.

·       Restructure existing climate funds to simplify access for vulnerable states.

·       Explore innovative financing mechanisms including resilience bonds, risk insurance pools, and regional contingency funds.

·       Link financial support to accountability frameworks, ensuring funds are used transparently and equitably.

3. Bridging Science, Traditional Knowledge & Early Warning

Charumbira underscored that resilience cannot rely solely on technology or external models. He advocated blending:

·       Cutting-edge science and technology (climate modelling, early warning systems, geospatial data).

·       Traditional, local knowledge systems, which have long governed how communities interpret and react to environmental signals.

·       Policy integration, so that early warning alerts trigger legislative and executive mechanisms e.g. contingency budgets, standby disaster units, and pre‑approved relief protocols.

This integration, he asserted, should be embedded in laws and regulations at national and sub‑national levels.

4. Strengthening Institutional Capacity and Coordination

He pointed out that many African countries have fragmented institutional structures with disaster management agencies, environment ministries, health services, local governments, and parliaments working in silos. His appeal was for:

·       Stronger coherence among ministries and agencies through institutional reform.

·       Clear mandates, roles, and chains of responsibility.

·       Capacity-building for sub‑national and local governments, often the first responders in disasters.

·       Regular simulations, audits, and legislative oversight to test readiness.

5. Elevating Africa’s Voice in Global Policymaking

Perhaps most boldly, Charumbira insisted Africa must not remain a passive recipient of resilience agendas shaped elsewhere. He urged that through the P20 platform and through PAP and national parliaments, African legislatures should articulate:

·       African priorities in resilience financing, metrics, and thresholds.

·       A “resilience narrative” rooted in Africa’s contexts, challenges, and solutions.

·       Concerted strategies to influence global frameworks such as the Sendai Framework, the UNFCCC adaptation agendas, and the evolving global architecture for disaster risk financing.

By doing so, Africa would shift from being “on the receiving end” to shaping the rules of engagement in resilience.

Link to the 11th P20 Programme and Global Momentum

The opening session in which Chief Charumbira spoke is the first of four in the Summit, as the programme outlines. Its deliberations will feed into the negotiation of the Summit’s final Declaration, intended to chart parliamentary and global pathways forward on disaster resilience.

Other Summit sessions will address linked challenges, ensuring debt sustainability for low-income countries; mobilizing finance for a just energy transition; and harnessing critical minerals for inclusive growth. This structuring underscores how resilience, climate transitions, debt, and resource governance are interdependent.

Chief Charumbira’s interventions were therefore not isolated; they resonate across these thematic areas. For instance:

·       Debt burdens weaken states’ ability to invest in resilience.

·       Energy transitions and resource extraction bring their own climate and environmental risks.

·       Access to minerals and resource revenues, if mismanaged, can exacerbate vulnerability or if well managed, provide funds for resilience investments.

In this sense, his call for a holistic, integrated strategy is well-aligned with the Summit’s architecture.

Implications and Challenges Ahead

Charumbira’s address points to a handful of critical implications and challenges that will require sustained political will and follow-up:

1.     From words to binding commitments. It is one thing for parliaments to endorse resilience plans; it is another to legislate, provide budgetary backing, and enforce them. Success depends heavily on political courage, inter‑branch cooperation, and civic legitimacy.

2.     Ensuring that funding translates to local impact. Mobilizing global or national resources is necessary, but ensuring they reach vulnerable communities and deliver adaptation, mitigation, and equity, will require stringent accountability mechanisms and transparency.

3.     Bridging levels of governance. Much of resilience must operate at local and municipal levels, closer to where people live and disasters strike. But local governments in many parts of Africa have weak capacities, limited autonomy, and poor connectivity with national systems.

4.     Sustaining momentum beyond the Summit. Declarations and communiqués are useful for setting direction, but the durability of change will depend on continuous interparliamentary collaboration, peer learning, monitoring frameworks, and periodic revisits, ideally under the guidance of PAP and allied institutions.

5.     Balancing urgency with equity. While urgent disasters demand immediate action, long-term resilience must avoid reinforcing inequalities. Legislatures must ensure that responses and investments protect and empower the most vulnerable.

Conclusion: A Forward Path for Parliamentary Diplomacy

H. E. Chief Fortune Charumbira’s address at the working session on strengthening disaster resilience and responses was not merely a formal speech — it was a clarion call for parliamentary agency, African leadership, and global solidarity in an era of escalating uncertainty.

By asserting the centrality of legislatures in resilience, demanding predictable financing, insisting on inclusive approaches, and advocating for Africa’s voice in global design, Charumbira positioned PAP and African parliaments as active shapers, rather than passive clients, of the resilience agenda.

As the Summit proceeds toward its Declaration and as national parliaments return to their halls, the real test will be whether the Summit’s vision translates into national laws, budgets, oversight mechanisms, and ultimately safer communities. The challenge is steep, but so too is the need for transformative leadership in the face of converging climate and disaster crises.