Mugabe back from Rio summit

President Robert Mugabe, has arrived back home from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where he had joined other world leaders at the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development.

President Mugabe, who was accompanied by the First Lady, Amai Grace Mugabe, cabinet ministers and other senior government officials, was welcomed at Harare International Airport by Vice President Landa John Nkomo, Defence Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa, Transport, Communications and Infrastructure Development Minister Nicholas Goche, service chiefs and other senior government officials.

The President had joined over one hundred world leaders for the historic Rio+20 conference in Brazil which gave the global community an opportunity to renew its political commitment to advancing the sustainable development agenda as well as finding ways of addressing new and emerging challenges such as climate change.

In his address during the opening ceremony, Cde Mugabe said the immediate transformation of the international financing mechanisms has become critical as the skewed situation prevailing poses a challenge to the poorer and vulnerable countries who fail to have access to adequate funding from institutions that are controlled by 'global bullies'.

President Mugabe touched on fundamental issues that are hampering the full implementation of agreed principles during the 1992 Earth Summit, saying practical action plans should be put in place to address the implementation gaps as nations continue to suffer from challenges that can be addressed by fully adopting the sustainable development agenda.

The high level conference which ended Friday saw the adoption of a global plan of action whose key components include the renewal of political commitment to sustainable development and commitment to the eradication of poverty which is a requirement for sustainable development.

The world leaders also agreed to reaffirm all the principles of the Rio Declaration, including the aspect of common but shared responsibility.

They also noted that every country has a primary responsibility for its own economic and social development plans and domestic resources should be used in all development strategies.

Leaders agreed on the need for technology transfer and capacity building for sustainable development.

Pre-formal meetings of ministers, taskforces and various interest groups preceded the meeting of heads of state and government and focused on the three pillars of development which are social, economic and environment.

Under the three pillars of sustainable development focus was on energy, food security,  the concept of the green economy, water and sanitation sustainable cities, health and population decent work and social protection and poverty eradication among other thematic areas.

The inputs from the various meetings were then used to craft the adopted global plan of action.