Lessons learned from the recent drought response in Ethiopia

Drought, worsened by El Niño effects, is having a devastating impact on the lives and livelihoods of 10.2 million Ethiopians. The lack of rainfall and subsequent great drought have caused a massive spike in humanitarian needs, which are expected to continue through the remaining of 2016 and well into next year.

Join the discussion on lessons learned from recent drought crisis in Sub-Saharan East Africa at the upcoming 2nd annual Aid & Development Africa Summit. Held on 21-22 February 2017 in Nairobi, Kenya, the Summit will examine disaster response activities to the recent drought emergency in the region, identifying new best practice, challenges, possible solutions and what can be done better next time.

According to Addisu G/medhin, Senior Expert, Ministry of Environment, Ethiopia the Aid & Development Africa Summit is “aligned with the climate change agenda and it was really useful”.

With over 60 expert speakers, including senior representatives of JICA, Save the Children, IFRC, World Vision International, USAID, UNICEF, International Telecommunication Union, Mercy Corps and Christian Children’s Fund of Canada, the participants will hear latest updates and learns about how technological innovations can improve aid delivery and development strategy in Sub-Saharan East Africa.

Adele Beerling, Country Coordinator, Ethiopia, Swiss Red Cross noted: “the Aid & Development Africa Summit was inspiring. It was energising to hear about innovations”.

In response to the crisis, the joint government and humanitarian partners’ report Humanitarian Requirements Document (HRD) for 2016 was developed to include specific operational plans based on rain projections and analysis of past El-Niño events in Ethiopia.

Some of the learnings that emerged from the HRD for 2016 include:

  • Three month lead times for the procurement and delivery of food and other assistance - any new funding contribution will take this time to materialize as assistance in the hands of beneficiaries
  • Aid recipients shared assistance provided - communities will ensure that the most-needy in their midst will have access to available aid
  • Food price inflation - prices on average have risen 11-18%, therefore localized inflation need to be closely monitored, especially in areas where cash transfers are being considered instead of food aid
  • Drinking water interventions are critically enabling, without them the rest of the multi-sector response would not be possible
  • Continuing ‘unseasonal’ migration and displacement - there’s a high potential for displacement of whole communities due to lack of available drinking water and in search of pasture for livestock

Network with over 300 senior representatives from regional governments, UN agencies, NGOs, development banks, civil society organisations and the private sector at the Aid & Development Africa Summit 2017 and discover game-changing innovations for humanitarian aid and development in the region.

For more information, or to register, visit http://africa.aidforum.org

For inquiries, get in touch with Alina O’Keeffe at aokeeffe@aidforum.org

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