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Rebecca Muna, ForumCC coordinating team member, Latif Amars, Project Manager, ForumCC and Beatrice Kamugisha, Caravan Coordinator

The ForumCC – also known as the Tanzanian Civil Society Forum on Climate Change  today held a press conference to discuss the Trans African Caravan of Hope and UNFCCC-COP 17. ForumCC is an association of civil society organisations committed to work on climate change in their own programs as well as through advocacy.  It brings together development and environment organizations, those with technical skills and those with a more delivery and advocacy focus.  Below is a press release sent out by ForumCC. More details will be sent to you later.

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PRESS RELEASE

THE TRANS-AFRICAN CARAVAN OF HOPE FOR CLIMATE CHANGE IN DAR ES SALAAM, TANZANIA

This is to inform the media and the general public at large that, Tanzania Civil Society Forum on Climate Change (ForumCC) in collaboration with the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA) are organising a Trans-Africa Caravan of Hope.

The TransAfrican Caravan of hope” is a physical movement of people in buses, a major mobilisation and awareness creation initiative which is set to kick off from Bujumbura, Burundi and conclude in Durban, South Africa coinciding with the opening of the COP17 at International Convention Centre.

The Caravan seeks to galvanise community voices and actions in countries it will pass through, in addition to solidifying inter-state Civil Society collaboration on common advocacy demands in preparation for COP17. The caravan is set to run through 14 countries and will bring together different sector-based networks from farmers, faith-based organisations, indigenous peoples, youth, women and pastoralists. The countries include:

Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Swaziland, Namibia, Botswana, Lesotho and South Africa.

In addition to these countries, the mobilization has gone beyond, with participants from other African regions (west, North and Central) committing to converge in Nairobi to be part of the Caravan to Durban. There is also increasing interest from Asian and Latin American activists, and those from some industrialized countries who have indicated their willingness to converge in Nairobi for the Caravan.  

The caravan will be in Dar es Salaam on the 15th November, we will have a rally to welcome them and hand the petition that it carries with to a top government official.

Prior to the caravan’s arrival, we are organizing several activities to build moment, these include; a Pre-COP 17 National Workshop, to be held on November 11th 2011, that will come up with a common Civil Society Organisations’ position towards the COP17. Moreover, there will be a Dhow Ride from Zanzibar to Dar es Salaam to highlight the coastal and marine impacts of climate change. And lastly, we will have a Climate Hearing organised in collaboration with Tanzania Natural Resources Forum (TNRF) which intends to give voices to those worse affected by climate change and show a human face of the problem in the country.

We therefore like to inform the media and Tanzanian public about these important upcoming events in Tanzania and ask the public to come out to support and sign the caravan petition that will be presented to leaders in Durban.

For more information or inquiry, please, don’t hesitate to contact; Ms. Beatrice Kamugisha or Lawrence Chuma through, b.kamugusha@forumcc.org, or l.chuma@forumcc.org; Mobile; 0716 918 623 or 0714 511 668

Thank you for your kind attention and continued cooperation

Latif Amars

For the Organizing Committee at ForumCC