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In opening remarks to a building back better workshop which is focusing on the need for climate resilient investment in reconstruction and development in cyclone-affected regions of Malawi, Mozambique and Zimbabwe, Mr. Madiro said his ministry was working with other ministries, government departments, international agencies, non-governmental organizations and the private sector on rebuilding livelihoods and infrastructure in the affected eastern part of the country.

They are also working on different strategies to better prepare communities and to integrate climate information in their response so they can build resilience.

“We at Home Affairs, work with climate and weather monitoring organizations, disaster preparedness and risk reduction units to strengthen our national and regional strategies to generate and share reliable climate information,” he said.

The minister said bringing together policy makers, climate research centres, academic institutions, national meteorological services, and grassroots organisations, will bridge the gap between climate research and climate information needs.

Mr. Madiro said policymakers in Zimbabwe and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) need to be armed with strong, evidence-based information in order to make properly informed decisions for a climate-resilient economy.

“A disconnect between producers and users of climate information can lead to climate information that is often too technical, difficult to access and does not speak to users’ needs,” he said.

He continued: “We must have strong early warning systems to provide critical data to prepare us for droughts, floods and storms, and to save lives and minimise economic damage,” he said, adding evidence showed that robust weather and climate information offered ‘extremely good value for money in protecting and enhancing development.”

“I commend UNECA and its partners’ initiative to organize such an event to raise awareness and share tools to help building back better and building with resilience.”

James Murombedzi, Chief of the African Climate Policy Center (ACPC) at the ECA, for his part noted the findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report earlier in the year that climate change was accelerating and in turn increased frequency and intensity of extreme weather and climate events was expected.

“This is amply demonstrated by the increasing number and severity of weather events affecting southern Africa, as we experienced this year with cyclones Desmond, Idai and Kenneth striking in quick succession. It is thus important that as we reconstruct after the devastation of the cyclones, we also urgently act to build the resilience of our region in order to ensure that we achieve our sustainable development goals in a changing climate,” he said.

“We are therefore gathered here to initiate programmes to support the integration of climate information services and climate change considerations into resilience building in climate sensitive sectors of the economies of SADC countries.”

At the end of the workshop we hope to have identified critical issues that need to be addressed in order to mainstream climate change into development planning in order to not only build back better after the devastation of the cyclones, but to also build climate resilience into our economies, ecosystems, infrastructure, and communities, Mr. Murombedzi said.

“The African Climate Policy Centre undertakes to work with governments and partners in the SADC region to support initiatives to develop best practices, build capacities, mobilise resources for climate resilient development in the region,” he said.

The workshop is reviewing the status of climate information services in the region, exploring tools and methods for enhancing the mainstreaming of climate change in development planning, and identifying concrete actions towards climate proofing economic activities, ecosystems, human settlements and physical infrastructure, especially in areas projected to be impacted by extreme weather and climate events.

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GETTY IMAGESGovernment supporters chanted slogans in Harare, in one of the country-wide marches

Thousands of people are marching across Zimbabwe in government-organised protests against US and EU sanctions.

The demonstrators say the sanctions have ruined the Zimbabwean economy.

But the US and EU argue they have been imposed on individuals and companies and have no impact on the economy.

The government has made the day a public holiday, provided buses for marches and President Emmerson Mnangagwa gave an address at the National Sports Stadium.

“We know very well that the sanctions are neither smart nor targeted,” AFP news agency reports him as saying to the crowds.

“Their impact on our daily lives is immeasurable and the consequences are dire,” he added.

But critics say the government is trying to deflect anger about the worsening economic crisis which has seen increasing inflation and people’s incomes falling.

Protesters wore T-shirts emblazoned with the slogan “#SanctionsMustGo” and carried placards saying the sanctions were a crime against humanity.

Business owners told the BBC’s Shingai Nyoka that the sanctions have put a black mark against Zimbabwe meaning banks have stopped lending companies money at affordable interest rates.

‘Propaganda effort’

Speakers at the stadium said the sanctions were the reason for most of the economic problems that Zimbabwe is facing including power and water shortages.

Our correspondent adds that less people than expected turned up to the main protest, with only 15-20,000 people in a stadium with a capacity of 60,000.

Opposition leader Nelson Chamisa has said the protests are part of a propaganda effort to mask the country’s “failed leadership”.

Image Copyright @nelsonchamisa@NELSONCHAMISA

The US embassy in Zimbabwe tweeted that the fault for the failing economy lies with the government’s “failed economic policies”.

Image Copyright @usembassyharare@USEMBASSYHARARE

The US financial and travel restrictions currently apply to 85 individuals, including President Mnangagwa, and 56 companies or organisations.

The US also imposed a ban on arms exports to Zimbabwe.

EU sanctions also target specific individuals both within the Zimbabwean government and associated with it.

Travel restrictions and a freeze on assets have been imposed, along with the sale of military hardware and equipment which might be used for internal repression.

Some of the sanctions started 20 years ago but in March the US government added to its list military officials involved in last year’s deadly crackdown on protesters.

JOHANNESBURG – Lobby group, the Coalition against Sanctions, says sanctions against Zimbabwe are hurting the people and not the politicians.

The coalition, flanked by the ANC and PAC, have handed over memorandums of demand to the United States and European Union embassies, demanding an end to sanctions.

The organisation says the measures are unjust and punishing the population.

The sanctions are targeting 85 people, including Zimbabwe President Emmerson Mnangagwa and 56 businesses, which are seen as crucial to Zimbabwe’s economy.

“Here is what we are saying I am just a citizen with a mother in Zimbabwe crying with no food in the stomach, because our government is saying sanctions are the cause right now we know that there is mismanagement, there is corruption a lot of things that can be said to the government of Zimbabwe,” said Coalition against Sanctions director Wellington Manyonda.

Zimbabwe’s economy has struggled to grow for many years and is expected to contract by 7-percent this year.

While it seems the days of hyperinflation are back again, after inflation shot up 300-percent from 4.3-percent in 2018 to around 175.6-percent in June this year.

The US embassy in Harare has denied that the sanctions are against Zimbabwe.

The embassy says they are aimed at those who engage in corruption and violate human rights.

On its Twitter account, the embassy says the sanctions do not prohibit trade between Zimbabwe and the US.

“The continued judgment and setting of Utopian standards for Zimbabwe are callous, vindictive and should not be allowed to continue,” Mnangagwa told supporters in an address at the National Sports Stadium in the capital, Harare. “We say enough is enough. Remove sanctions now.”

Sanctions against some individuals in the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front and businesses associated with them were imposed back in 2003. The U.S. has made periodic amendments to include people the State Department believes are responsible for human-rights abuses or enriching themselves at the country’s expense.

Zimbabwe has received more than $3 billion in U.S. aid since 1980 and at least $300 million this year alone, the U.S. Ambassador to Zimbabwe Brian Nichols said in an interview with newspaper publisher Trevor Ncube that was posted on the U.S. embassy’s Twitter account.

The U.S. is Zimbabwe’s single-biggest donor. Despite diplomatic tension between the two countries, American aid kept Zimbabweans from starvation after former president Robert Mugabe authorized the often violent seizure of about 90% of all white-owned farms between 2000 and 2012. That cost the country millions of jobs and saw farm exports almost disappear.

“Our targeted sanctions are not responsible for Zimbabwe falling tragically short of its potential. The fault lies in the catastrophic mismanagement by those in power and the government’s own abuse of its citizens,” Nichols tweeted Thursday.

The Southern African Development Community reiterated an August call for all forms of sanctions against Zimbabwe to be removed.

Sanctions “directly impact on employment and income generation opportunities, and thus the livelihoods of the ordinary Zimbabweans,” it said in an emailed statement Friday.

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In Harare, many stayed away from the demonstrations, saying they were a distraction from the president’s mishandling of the economy, which is plagued by 18-hour daily power cuts and shortages of foreign exchange, fuel and medicines.

Mnangagwa has so far failed to unify the country since taking over from the late Robert Mugabe, who was ousted in a coup in 2017. Hopes of a swift recovery have faded as the economy struggles to exit its deepest crisis in a decade.

Mnangagwa, like Mugabe, blames the sanctions imposed by the United States and European Union since 2001 for the economic ills and says they are intended to remove his party from power.

“Every part and sector of our economy has been affected by these sanctions like a cancer,” Mnangagwa told a sparse crowd in Harare’s 60,000-seater national stadium. “Enough is enough, remove them. Remove these sanctions now!”

The poor attendance showed the difficulties that Mnangagwa faces in mobilizing party members still divided between Mugabe’s supporters and those who ousted him. The rift was exposed by a bruising dispute over the former leader’s funeral.

Earlier, government supporters led by Mnangagwa’s wife Auxillia and bussed from across Zimbabwe marched for 5 km to the stadium.

Singing and dancing, they waved placards inscribed “No sanctions, no discrimination, sanctions new version of slavery,” and “Enough is enough, remove sanctions now.”

“We have no jobs because of the sanctions. America wants to remove ZANU-PF from power through sanctions but we will defend the party and our president,” said 32-year-old Martin Mafusire.

Similar marches were held throughout Zimbabwe after Mnangagwa declared Friday a public holiday.

But in downtown Harare, many people went about their daily business selling everything from fruit to cellphones.

“It is Mnangagwa who has to go because he has failed. I can’t leave my station to go on a useless march,” said mother-of-three Catherine Chihota, selling fruit at a street corner.

The EU and United States imposed financial and travel bans on ZANU-PF and top military figures for alleged human rights abuses and electoral fraud. The government says the measures are punishment for its seizures of white-owned farms.

ZANU-PF supporters condemn the sanctions while the main opposition Movement for Democratic Change says they are not the cause of the country’s economic crisis.

The regional Southern African Development Community has rallied behind Zimbabwe’s call for an end to sanctions.

While the government ran documentaries and articles in the official press criticizing sanctions, the U.S. and EU embassies took to social media to rebut the official narrative.

U.S. Ambassador Brian Nichols wrote an article in a private newspaper on Thursday saying “the greatest sanctions on Zimbabwe are the limitations that the country places on itself”.

He said the United States remained the biggest donor to Zimbabwe but corruption and lack of reform had dragged down the economy.

The EU keeps some sanctions in place, but in June it began talks with Harare meant to move on from the Mugabe era.

Harare says the U.S. sanctions have been the most devastating. These bar U.S. officials at the International Monetary Fund and World Bank from voting for debt relief or fresh lending for Zimbabwe.

In March, President Donald Trump extended by one year sanctions against 141 entities and individuals in Zimbabwe, including Mnangagwa.

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The scene opens: It’s daytime, in a bank, let’s say 11:30 a.m. on a Tuesday. The customers are going about their business with quiet purpose. The sun washes in from the eastern windows. Everyone is at least a little tan, and they look a little like people who smell of sea salt and the waves. L.A.? Could be. You can tell they all not-so secretly wish they were surfing. But who doesn’t, am I right?

Suddenly the front doors burst open, and the camera rushes to them. Who swaggers through the door, but Ronald Reagan, Richard Nixon, Lyndon B. Johnson, and Jimmy Carter, each carrying an assault rifle. “I voted for you, Mr. President!” shouts one shocked customer. “Shut up, you stupid Oakie!” Jimmy Carter inexplicably yells back.

And on it goes. What is happening? Are you watching some amazing science fiction film about time-traveling and/or cloned former presidents robbing banks? Normally I’d say, “You wish!” but here you don’t wish. Because you’re already watching the greatest movie ever made. You’re watching the opening scene of Point Break.

THE SECRET OF POINT BREAK

Why is Point Break such an amazing film? Many have asked this in the 28 years, three months, two weeks, and one day since the film’s premier. And there are many reasons: the surfing; the breathtaking cinemaphotography; the epic skydiving; Gary Busey; the flamethrower scene; the ex-presidents, of course; two meatball subs at 10 in the morning; and Keanu Reeves in the heartbreaking final scene.

But the real Point Break connoisseurs know that the secret is that its characters don’t set non-tubular goals. They never aim for, or settle for, anything short of totally bodacious. They make flamethrowers out of gas pumps. They skydive without parachutes. They go absurdly and impractically into character as ex-presidents while robbing banks. They say things like, “If you want the ultimate, you’ve got to be willing to pay the ultimate price.” They live absolutely to the limit.

This dedication to excellence allows the characters of Point Break to achieve great things. They never do things half-way or settle for mediocrity. Keanu Reeves even applied it to his own life, culminating in his recent action star renaissance due to his intense dedication to his John Wick training regimen. You too can be like Bodhi and Johnny Utah, if only you’re also stoked and ready to rip.

START APPLYING THE SECRETS OF POINT BREAK TO YOUR OWN LIFE

Too often, though, instead of being gnarly, we allow ourselves to be satisfied with taking a nosedive.

Stop taking nosedives. The first step is to set better goals. How do you know if a goal is bad? One red flag is if you achieve it. Achieving goals will leave both lost and self-satisfied. You will wrongly convince yourself that you’re “OK.” But you’re not “OK.” You’re never “OK.” Because there is always more, and you should always want more, like Bodhi.

Start by sitting down, thinking about what you want out of your life, and setting the biggest goal you can think of to that end. This should be something really big, like being the absolute ruler over all of humanity and all of its offshoots until the heat death of the universe. If you can think of something bigger, for instance involving time travel, go with that. Then remember that all acts are measured only relative to that goal: You can move forward, towards your goal (be more like Bodhi) or backwards, away from your goal and into mediocrity (be less like Bodhi). You always want to move in the direction of being more like Bodhi. No act is neutral. All things move you forward or backwards.

Next, carefully consider the path to achieving that goal and set smaller, more achievable sub-goals that will move you further along the path. For instance, a sub-goal may be turning your law firm into the most successful commercial entity in the past and future of human civilization. You want alien archaeologists 10 billion years in the future to be writing books about you. Then you start psyching yourself up, such as by yelling at yourself in mirrors. Continue this process as long as necessary.

Then, build your self-identity around those goals. Dr. Gregory House used to say that he needed his team’s entire self-worth to rise and fall based on how well they did their jobs. You need to be the same way.  The idea of failure should be intolerable.

SURF’S UP

By applying these simple lessons, you too can become a great surfer, capable of mastering the legendary 50-Year-Storm, or whatever else you wish to do. So stop making excuses and start today, living the lessons taught to us by Bodhi, Johnny Utah, and whatever character Gary Busey plays.

Matthew W. Schmidt has represented and counseled clients at all stages of litigation and in numerous matters including insider trading, fiduciary duty, antitrust law, and civil RICO. He is a partner at the trial and investigations law firm Balestriere Fariello in New York, where he and his colleagues represent domestic and international clients in litigation, arbitration, appeals, and investigations. You can reach him by email at matthew.w.schmidt@balestrierefariello.com.