The Citizen, Dar Es Salaam, By Zephania Ubwani, Arusha 

The East African region is facing a severe drought and floods due to climate change, a senior official of the regional bloc said yesterday. 

Mr Juma Mwapachu, the East African Community (EAC) secretary-general said the region needs urgent support to mitigate global warming. 

He was speaking during a consultation meeting with a delegation from the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida). 

All the five EAC member states are currently engaged in climate change roundtable discussions aimed at gathering and incorporating their views in the EAC Climate change Master Plan. 

The plan is aimed at addressing the region�s climate change detection, vulnerability, mitigation strategies and adaptation measures. 

Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi are all signatories to the Kyoto Protocol on climate change, an international environmental treaty seeking to address global warming. 

Mr Mwapachu urged the Swedish government to assist the EAC finalise and implement the masterplan, which has stalled due to lack of funds, saying the region faced a major threat from climate change. 

Drought, floods, high temperatures caused by deforestation are some of the effects of climate change, which is usually seen as resulting from human activity.