High-level Meeting on National Drought Policy
(Geneva, 11-15 March 2013)
Statement by Mr Bekele Geleta, Secretary General, on behalf of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies
Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, dear friends.
I welcome the opportunity to address this high-level meeting on behalf of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, the world’s largest humanitarian network, which has more than thirteen million active volunteers supporting vulnerable people in more than one hundred and eighty seven countries worldwide.
As the former Secretary General of the Ethiopian Red Cross during the famine in the 1980s, I have seen first hand the egregious effects of protracted droughts and its impact on humanity. I am delighted therefore to see this intitiave to have a National Drought Policy, under the stewardship of WMO, FAO and UNCCD. The Red Cross Red Crescent has worked in disaster risk reduction, response and development for many decades. Our experience tells us that the humanitarian consequences of drought can only be prevented or mitigated by building resilience in communities, and by combining effective early warning systems with early action driven by people-centred approaches and networks.
Recent Red Cross Red Crescent experiences in the Horn of Africa, for example, have presented some key lessons for future humanitarian action to mitigate the effects of drought and build resilience.
Droughts are both natural and recurring, and communities must be supported to become more resilient to these cycles. This requires a combination of effective policy at the government level, and a twin-track approach at community and regional levels. The way we invest in disaster risk reduction measures of this kind must change to reflect this need for both emergency humanitarian assistance and development aid.
While progress has been made in building effective early warning systems and analyzing food security trends, all stakeholders must continue to improve in these areas if our interventions are to be effective and responsive to the changing needs.
Public education and awareness of the early warning, early action approach will also build the resilience of communities and give vulnerable people the tools and knowledge they need to improve – and even save – their own lives. The information must be accessible and comprehensible by end users. Let us keep the most vulnerable in mind.
The protection of livelihoods must be a core principle of responding to drought, as this builds resilience in a way that traditional food aid cannot. More attention needs to be given to innovating with cash responses, protecting livestock and addressing health as well as food and nutrition security threats.
Together – governments, policy-makers, and civil society - we must advocate for increased investment in community resilience as a long-term solution to preventing or mitigating slow-onset disasters such as drought.
The Red Cross Red Crescent will continue to share its experience with its partners, and to give a voice to the vulnerable people that we serve. In this way, we will empower communities to influence national policy and its implementation, to choose the priorities and the path of their own development, and to have the resilience to withstand the shocks and challenges of this changing world.
I take this opportunity to commend the leadership of the WMO for their outstanding work in establishing the Global Framework for Climate Services, and I have committed IFRC to continue working closely with WMO and other partners. We will help transform policy into action. This is where we can truly add value. This is my commitment to you ladies and gentlemen.
Thank you very much.