The State of Affairs of Operationalizing the New DRM Approach in Ethiopia

1. The State of Affairs of Operationalizing the New DRM Approach in Ethiopia Disaster Risk Management and Food Security Sector Ministry of Agriculture Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia December 2011 Early Warning and Response Directorate

2. Outline • Disaster risks in the context of Ethiopia • Historical Background to Disaster Management System • Current State of Affairs of DRM implementation • Overview of the Ethiopia’s Early Warning and Response System • Ongoing and planned activities towards full operationalization of DRM approach • Strengths and challenges • Role of MPs in operationalizing the DRM approach

3. Disaster risks: Context of Ethiopia • Ethiopia has achieved a double digit economic growth over the last eight years and plans to increase it further (to the level of 14 percent) by the end of the GTP period. • Despite such a tremendous achievement Ethiopia is still highly vulnerable to a wide range of CC induced natural as well as man-made disasters • Drought remains the country’s leading major hazard while flood is the second major hazard next to drought • Recent experience shows an apparent marked increase in area coverage and frequency of such disasters • Climate Change and associated risks are and will continue to affect the economy in general and agriculture and FS in particular

4. Susceptibility to Drought…

5. And Flood…

6. History of DMS and Current State of Affairs of DRM Implementation

7. …Background to Disaster Management System Pre BPR period: crisis management focused • Pre-1973: no organized DM system, ad-hoc response to crises • 1973: Relief & Rehabilitation Commission (RRC) • 1995: Disaster Prevention and Preparedness Commission (DPPC) • 2004: Disaster Prevention and Preparedness Agency (DPPA) • PSNP opened a new chapter in the history of DM in Ethiopia by shifting the focus from crisis management to risk management • 2006-07: Business Process Reengineering (BPR) Post BPR period: Risk management focused • 2008: Disaster Risk Management and Food Security Sector (DRMFSS)

8. …Policy • National Policy on Disaster Prevention & Management (NPDPM) – 1993 • Focus on response largely to droughts • Actions not backed by risk assessments • National Policy and Strategy on Disaster Risk Management – pending approval (by 3rd quarter of EFY04) • Full DRM cycle – prevention, mitigation, preparedness, response, recovery and rehabilitation • Focus on proactive risk management • Aligned with the Hyogo Framework for Action • Multi-hazard and multi-sector approach • Informed decision making based on strong risk assessments and early warning system • Legal backing with proper institutional structure

9. …Current state of Affairs: Early Warning and Response System Coordination mechanisms Assessment NDPPC Ground & remotely sensed data Preparedness The system is multi-hazard and multi-sectoral

10. … Current state of Affairs • Risk reduction measures • DM: • High level Committees • At each level of Government(at the Federal level led by the DPM) • Government led coordination mechanisms: • Disaster Risk Management Technical Working Group (which brings together all actors involved in EWR) • Sectoral Task Forces (led by respective ministries) • Multi-Agency Coordination Group ( at the technical and strategic levels) • Command post (on the scene) • RED&FS platform (DRMFS Task Force) • Preparedness • Food and non-food stockpiles (government and partners) • Disaster Response Fund (government and partners) • Response • Response triggered based an early warning info and assessment findings and beneficiaries identified through transparent and participatory geographic and community targeting

11. … Current state of Affairs • Partnerships: • With US government to strengthen our response capability • With Global Food Monitoring System and ITC to improve access to remotely sensed data and enhance application capability • With IGAD for capacity development • South-South Cooperation • Operational zed baselines, risk management tools, and innovative approaches • Livelihood baselines • EW baselines • LEAP (EW, contingent financing, contingency plan, capacity) • LEAP-LIAS • Market analysis tools • Risk financing mechanism (EW, contingent financing, contingency plan, capacity) • Insurance schemes • Professionalization of the DRM workforce and initiating applied researches and studies • Annual events: for documenting and sharing lessons learnt, best practices and experiences

12. …State of Affairs: Organizational structure of the DRMFSS MoA EFSRA NDPPC NDPPFO DRMFSS FSCD EWRD Emergency Finance & Procurement Case Team Finance & Procurement Case Team DRMEWR Case Team Resettlement coordination Case Team EWRIM Case Worker Logistics management Case Team Emergency Logistics management Case Team Safety net and household asset building case team Aid agencies Coordination Case Worker

13. Ongoing and planned undertakings Moving away from seasonal assessment based upon response to a continuous monitoring system • EW info and post event rapid assessment findings will lead to the response Automation of information flow and report sharing: • WoredaNET-based data and report sharing (vertical and horizontal) • Infrastructure and application development • Trainings Enhancing the response capacity: • Integration of relevant components of US-NIMS (MAC, EOS, and ICS)

14. Ongoing and planned undertakings: Strategic Programme & Investment Framework • Translating the new DRM approach into action • Designed to achieve the goals and targets of the Growth & Transformation Plan • Will help harmonize DRM initiatives and create synergies for a more effective implementation and maximize the available resource efficiency of utilization • Main features • Aligned with the new BP, revised DRM Policy, HFA, PIF, GTP, CAADP, African Regional Strategy for DRR • Presents all DRM programme components along the different phases of DRM and their interrelationships • Substantively defines and costs (in detail) the various DRM components/programmes • Provides a mechanism for assessing progress and evaluating results on DRM

15. Ongoing and planned undertakings: Disaster Risk Profiling • An information system being developed (building upon existing livelihoods baselines) to implement the new DRM approach • Disaster Risk Profile for every wereda in country based on information collected from communities, households and DRM actors • It provides comprehensive information on: hazards and associated risks, vulnerabilities, underlying and associated causes of disaster risks and vulnerabilities, copying capacities, and current and proposed mitigation measures • Aims at informing: • DRR plans in weredas, • Comprehensive contingency plans • The kind of location-specific early warning and response system that need to be in place • Appropriate context-specific risk transfer mechanisms and tools

16. Ongoing and planned undertakings: Productive Safety Net Programme • Aims at providing transfers to the food insecure households in chronically food insecure weredas in a way that prevents asset depletion at the household level and creates asset at the community level • providing appropriate, timely and predictable transfers to chronically food insecure households – basis of effective risk transfer • establishing new community assets and maintaining the existing ones with operational management mechanisms – enhancing community resilience • addressing transitory needs effectively in PSNP weredas up to the limit of risk financing resources – preventing impending disasters • Mitigates the risk of disaster occurrence by saving livelihoods of vulnerable people • Coverage: • 8 regions, 318 weredas, 7.6 million people

17. Ongoing and planned undertakings: Risk Transfers: Going from Micro to Macro • Bottoms-up approach adopted for overall risk management framework • All programmes based on ground information (community-based risk profiles) • Best practices and lessons learned: • Horn of Africa Risk Transfer for Adaptation (HARITA) • Multiple Crop Insurance (MPCI) & Weather Index Crop Insurance (WICI), supported by Nyala Insurance • Complements macro-level risk transfer efforts • All efforts directed towards strengthening the resilience of vulnerable populations

18. Ongoing and planned undertakings: Early Warning: The Basis for RT • Major issue observed in existing micro-level risk transfer experiments – reliability of “triggers” • The new EWS focuses on a system based upon continuous monitoring as the basis for triggering the response • Regular multi-hazard monitoring and early warning (utilizing ground and remotely sensed information) • Analysis tool like: LEAP and LIAS • LEAP is an important risk management tool that analyses satellite and ground data and generates EW to facilitate timely and appropriate responses • It also provides triggers to activate the Risk Financing mechanism • LIAS is being used for analysing livelihood dynamics

19. Ongoing and planned undertakings: RT Practice- Risk Financing Mechanism • Initiated in 2006 and evolved to the level now being seen as an integral part of PSNP • It is a mechanism to address additional caseloads in PSNP weredas in the event of disasters • Preventing non-PSNP beneficiaries from adopting destructive coping strategies and falling into chronic food insecurity • Early response to disasters through scaling up of the PSNP prevents them from becoming emergency. • A total of US$ 160 million has been pooled in the Contingent Financing • In 2011 US $134 has been triggered to mitigating impacts of drought in PSNP areas

20. …Risk Financing Mechanism - Pillars Early warning to trigger early response Adequate capacity to allow the pre-prepared plans to be effectively implemented Plans in place so that early response to impeding droughts can be made Ready resources to execute contingency plans and avoid delays in appeals

21. Ongoing and planned undertakings: Integrating DRR, CCA & SP • DRM, CCA and SP: basically all these addressing poverty, vulnerability, and disaster risk related issues and are interrelated and inseparable • CC increased disaster risks increased poverty and vulnerability • Mainstreaming is crucial, but may not bring about lasting solution unless there is a strong linkage between these three initiatives • The October 2007 Stockholm Plan of Action for Integrating DRR and CCA calls for common strategies (DRR, CCA, poverty reduction). • There is always a natural overlap between DRM, CCA, and SP – the integration facilitates effective risk transfer • Adaptive Social Protection: has a greater role to build the resilience of the poorest and most vulnerable people to climate change

22. Strengths and Challenges • Strengths: • Government ownership and leadership; • Proper institutional arrangement at all levels of government; • Alignment of DRM programmes to the HFA, revised policy, PIF, GTP etc; • Revising of the DRM policy doc; • The EWRS helped prevent the 2011 drought induced crisis from changing into famine (as life saving and livelihood protection measures were initiated in a timely manner); • Preparedness (in kind food and non-food stockpiles and disaster response fund) allowed timely response and also bridged resource gaps; • Integration of MAC and ICS into the DM system increased effectiveness of response

23. Strengths and Challenges • Disaster risk reduction measures like PSNP improved resilience; • The Risk Financing Mechanism, component of PSNP, has been playing a crucial role in avoiding asset depletion and protecting the hard-won gains achieved by beneficiaries by providing timely response in the event of shocks; • Partnership programmes with International and regional organizations helped improve capacity and increase access to information; • Risk Transfer Mechanisms contributed to reduce disaster risks and vulnerability to shocks and mitigate potential impacts; • DRM workforce professionalization and South-South Cooperation helped improve capacity; • Organizing an international DRM event annually contributed towards increased harmonization and synergy: Working jointly to achieving common goals. • Disaster risk profiling

24. Strengths and Challenges • Challenges: • The Draft DRM policy is not yet approved; • Reliance on external resources for DM; • DMS is not yet fully decentralized; • Limited Capacities for full operationalization of the new DRM approach; • Limited attitudinal change on the part of donors to allocate resources for DRM; • Lack of full integration and alignment of local level projects/programmes with DRM policy, strategy, and plans; • Limited or no focus on capacity building of government institutions as part of exit strategy of programmes run by international organizations

25. Thank you for your attention