(27th October 2015, Djibouti): As the first initiative a team of experts from different agencies today convened to discuss different methodologies and tools employed by the different development partners in the IGAD Member States to produce a Joint Regional Resilience Analysis (JRRA).
IGAD was given the role to lead the IGAD Drought Resilience and Sustainability Initiative (IDDRSI) and hence the decision to harmonize the tools and measurements applied by the IGAD development partners in the IGAD region.
The Joint Regional Resilience Analysis (JRRA) will help strengthen and enhance the existing partnerships, have a skills and tools exchange as well as tap into existing resources to have a consolidated report that will be a common, transparent and well researched source of reference for the agencies to be able to engage leaders at national and community levels in the different IGAD Member States and in Africa as a whole.
Dr. John P. Kabayo, Coordinator, IDDRSI in his introductory notes highlighted the importance of partners coming together to form an analysis that will look into areas of improvement and complementarity of the existing methodologies and tools of resilience analysis.
He also urged the different partners not to look at drought as an individual agency issue but to follow suit the IDDRSI strategy for a comprehensive and holistic approach to combat chronic food and nutrition insecurity to address the deep-seated poverty and environmental degradation to build the resilience of communities and households to the effects of droughts and other shocks in the region.
The JRRA will be tabled for review and validation in March 2016.
The meeting was IGAD (PCU/RAU) led and attended by representatives of UN-OCHA, UNDP, World Food Programme, ResilienceAfrica Network (RAN) and FEWSNET.
