CM/Res. 646 (XXXI)
RESOLUTION ON DROUGHT AND OTHER NATURAL DISASTERS
The Council of Ministers of the Organization of African Unity, meeting in its Thirty-First Ordinary Session in Khartoum, Democratic Republic of the Sudan, from 7 to 18 July 1978,
Having taken note of the in-depth and exhaustive Report CM/894 (XXXI) and Addenda II and III submitted by the General Secretariat on the Extra-ordinary Meeting of the Ad Hoc Committee on Drought and Other Natural Disasters,
Considering the new catastrophic effects of the brutal resurgence of drought in the sub- Sahelian region and its rapid spread to many other countries of the sub-region in 1977/78,
Noting further with concern the cyclic nature of the damage caused by tropical cyclones and floods, especially in Madagascar and East Africa,
Noting further the seriousness of the situation in which the fragile agricultural economics of our continent have been placed as a result of the invasion of pests, especially in the Eastern part of Africa,
Considering the Administrative Secretary-General’s visits to countries affected by drought and considering the various negotiations started by the Administrative Secretary- General:
CONGRATULATES the Administrative Secretary-General on taking action to alert international opinion in favour of the newly-affected countries and on the efforts to obtain the necessary financial means urgently needed to check the affects of natural disasters in Africa;
REQUESTS the Administrative Secretary-General to carry on as soon as possible his Fact-Finding Mission in the other African countries, most seriously affected by drought and other natural disasters;
REQUESTS the Administrative Secretary-General to submit to the Thirty-Second Ordinary Session of the Council of Ministers a detailed report on his next visits;
INVITES all the bodies entrusted with the task of locust control in Africa to undertake, under the aegis of the OAU, the necessary studies for their restructuring and integration, and in that spirit, endorses the recommendations made by the Ad Hoc Committee on Drought and Other Natural Disasters at its Extra-ordinary Session in Banjul;
AUTHORISES the Advisory Committee on budgetary and Financial Matters to release, as a matter of urgency, the necessary funds to activate the technical units responsible for co-ordination in connection with the joint FAO/OAU/WHO Commission on Nutrition, on the one hand, and the institutions for the control of drought and other natural disasters, on the other.