Wednesday, 09 November 2011 22:37

Written by IRIN aj/cb

0 Comments

[DAKAR] Move away from “food-first” responses and lay more stress on water and livelihoods; intervene early - it saves money and lives: These are a couple of the lessons emerging from the past four years of drought response, according to the Active Learning Network for Accountability and Performance (ALNAP).

ALNAP pored over 200 evaluations and lessons-learned reports since 2007. “The fact that 200 lessons-learned reports have been done is a sign of progress,” said Paul Knox-Clarke head of research and communications at ALNAP. “Agencies are now more consistent and rigorous in terms of thinking about what they’re doing, and recording it.”

Areas of progress include far more sophisticated cash responses - there has been “vast learning” about using cash in drought situations, said Knox-Clarke; while the development-to-relief continuum is now pretty much accepted as the way forward in drought situations, “there seems to be little argument about the need for disaster-aware development programmes, and humanitarian programmes that can look more long-term and segue into livelihoods models,” he continued.

Likewise, beneficiary accountability has significantly improved he said.

But where the whole system needs to buck up, is responding to early warning. “So much good work has been done around early warning systems, but this still does not necessarily trigger response,” said Knox-Clarke.

Here are some of the lessons outlined in the report:

Monday, 10 October 2011 22:31

Written by IRIN ah/mw/oa/cb

0 Comments

[NAIROBI] Al-Shabab insurgents remain a potent force in Somalia, but there is no public hint of talks on the horizon to reach a political settlement.

The suicide bombing by Al-Shabab in Mogadishu on 4 October, which claimed the lives of over 100 people, underlined its ability to reach into the heart of the capital, despite its withdrawal from the city in August.

Its control of large portions of south-central Somalia requires international agencies to reach agreements with Al-Shabab commanders to access the millions in need of food aid.

Monday, 26 September 2011 17:23

Written by Niamh Griffin

0 Comments

Donations from Ireland for the drought-stricken region of East Africa continue to rise according to aid agencies.

Figures provided by just three agencies in Ireland show donations to their projects now stand at €14.6 million. This exceeds the total previously raised by the umbrella body of more than 40 Irish aid agencies and development organisations, Dóchas, of which all three are members.

A spokesman for Trócaire, Eoghan Rice, said today €8.9 million has been donated to that agency since July 5th.

Concern has collected €4.4 million for the region since June according to spokeswoman Eithne Healy. “It’s a huge amount of money. It’s incredible when you think of the difficulties people here are going through,” she said. Last week, Concern’s Overseas Director Paul O’Brien called for greater media coverage, saying: “The Horn of Africa is in danger of becoming another ‘hidden emergency’ as the media spotlight falls elsewhere.”

A spokesman for Oxfam Ireland, Paul Dunphy, said €1.3 million has been collected since July for Oxfam projects.

Thursday, 22 September 2011 13:04

Written by World and Media

0 Comments

The Horn of Africa is facing its worst drought in sixty years. But despite some notable journalism, the crisis has struggled to obtain media coverage and raise sufficient funds from donors. It now risks becoming a "hidden emergency", says relief and development agency Concern.

In July and August, the famine accounted for just 0.7% of mainstream media news coverage in the United States, according to the Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism.

For man-made reasons, the emergency in Somalia is particularly severe. Yet, Google indexes only 70% more news stories about "famine" in Somalia in 2011 to-date than stories about its pirates (4,770 vs. 2,770).

Social media and Internet traffic figures suggest that the public is also paying little attention to the humanitarian emergency.

Yesterday (September 21), Concern Worldwide warned that the drought and conflict-induced hunger and nutrition crisis in the Horn of Africa is already dropping off the news headlines just as the imminent rainy season "threatens to exacerbate an already dire situation affecting nearly 12 million people in Somalia, Kenya, and Ethiopia."

Friday, 02 September 2011 17:17

Written by IRIN jk/am/mw

0 Comments

[DADAAB] For months, the Kenyan government resisted opening an extension of the world’s largest refugee complex in Dadaab to accommodate Somalis displaced by drought and conflict, finally relenting in late August.

The town, about 80km from Somalia in Kenya’s arid Garissa region, has been drawing in refugees for more than two decades, throwing up complex problems that fuel Kenya’s frustration at having handled more than its share of the “Somalia problem”, says Badu Katelo, Kenya’s acting commissioner for refugees.

Somali refugees outnumber locals in Dadaab by a quarter of a million at least and counting, said J Ndamburi, the district commissioner. The three camps – Hagadera, Dagahaley and Ifo – designed for 90,000 people, now host approximately 440,000 refugees, 150,000 (all Somalis) of whom have arrived in the past three months, says the UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR.

Monday, 29 August 2011 11:02

Written by Niamh Griffin

0 Comments

Donations of close to twelve million euro have been collected in Ireland for the famine-stricken Horn of Africa according to aid-workers in addition to more than seven million pledged in state aid.

Director of Dóchas, an umbrella organisation of more than 40 Irish aid agencies and development organisations, Mr Hans Zomer said the public money had been collected through sponsored walks and other activities in the last six weeks.

“It is wonderful of the Irish people to come and give aid to people who are suffering. It is a phenomenally positive response,” he said.

“The important message is that the needs of the people there are very great, and they are likely to grow. The next harvest will be in November, and until then people will have to depend on food aid.”

Wednesday, 17 August 2011 09:53

Written by Maina Waruru

0 Comments

[NAIROBI] Insurers will assess in October whether Kenyan farmers signed up to the Index-Based Livestock Insurance scheme will receive their first payment, after the worst drought in the region for 60 years.

The scheme, which has been piloted in northern Kenya since early 2010, uses freely-available satellite data to assess the state of pastures. When the images show that pastures have dried up, farmers can claim compensation for animals that have died as a result — without insurers having to verify the deaths in person.

In Kenya about 2,500 farmers have purchased the product since its inception, paying a yearly premium of up to US$100 for 6–8 animals. No payouts have been made yet, but farmers who lost more than 15 per cent of their cattle may receive around US$180 per animal.