NAIROBI, April 26 (Xinhua) -- There is a need for African governments and multilateral lenders to come up with a new mechanism to facilitate compensation of local communities affected by climate disasters, campaigners said Tuesday.

       Mithika Mwenda, the executive director of Nairobi-based Pan African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA), stressed that as the climate crisis takes a toll on the continent's rural and urban poor, there is a need for monetary compensation to enable them to rebuild their livelihoods.

       "Discussions on the compensation for loss and damage in Africa must be prioritized within the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change," Mwenda said in a statement issued in Nairobi, the Kenyan capital.

       According to Mwenda, accurate data and a robust legislative framework should be in place to enhance the capacity of African states to negotiate for funds from multilateral institutions and compensate victims of climate emergencies.

       In particular, financial compensation to enable victims of floods, droughts and heatwaves to rebuild their destroyed homes, farms and businesses should inform efforts to deliver climate justice in the continent, Mwenda said, calling for the assessment of devastation caused by cyclones in the southern African region as well as loss of livelihoods linked to severe drought in the Sahel and Horn of Africa region, to inform fair compensation of victims including subsistence farmers, nomads and small business owners.