ReliefWeb

Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen -

Just a short flight from Nairobi – in Northern Kenya, Somalia, parts of Ethiopia… there are more than 13 million people in urgent need of humanitarian aid. The numbers in need keep rising; since the AU summit I attended a fortnight ago, assessments have revealed that another 900,000 people are desperately in need of assistance.

This year affected populations battled against the odds and lost. Conflict, the world economy and the weather conspired to push them all over the edge – from poverty into crisis.

We have been sounding the alarm of this humanitarian crisis for almost a year now. Since the beginning of the year we have mobilized over a billion dollars to provide urgent lifesaving assistance to over 12 million people, $500 million of which was raised in the last two months and involved many new donors to the Horn of Africa. That said, we still need almost a billion more this year alone. Today as the populations in need continue to grow, and as we race against time to prevent further deaths, we need even more…

The people of the Horn of Africa and their governments have responded generously with the resources they have. Take a look at the Kenyans for Kenya initiative, and what the Government of Ethiopia has done with resilience. These are exemplary.

The magnitude of the crisis in the Horn, particularly in Somalia, has generated a vast response from many donors and actors. Coordination in a crisis of this magnitude with so many different actors is always a challenge. We welcome the efforts of all partners to provide life-saving relief to those in need, especially those who have access where many UN agencies do not.

We must strengthen our joint efforts to coordinate with all agencies and organizations – those who have been present for many years, and those who are getting involved for the first time. This is essential to maximize our efforts to reach all those in need, and avoid duplication or gaps in our work.
We need to ensure that the needs which are currently being met continue to be met, by maintaining the presence of existing partners wherever they are, while continuing to expand access by any who can do so.

We cannot endanger that presence. Our humanitarian presence must remain civilian in nature especially in a conflict zone. The partners that are there, are there through a careful process of discussion and negotiation on the ground, with the leaders and the elders. Through this approach we have been able to increase coverage even to the most insecure areas in southern Somalia.

Whereas in the past, conflict forced people to flee their homes, today the search for food is the main driver of displacement in and from Somalia. No matter what the cause of displacement, all people deserve the same rights, to seek protection and asylum, crossing borders if needed. I know I won’t be the only one here today to recognize the generosity and support of Kenya and Ethiopia, who even while shouldering their own climatic crisis, are sheltering hundreds of thousands of refugees.

Weather forecasts say that the next rains will be good. Let us hope so. Even as we look forward to the greening of the pastures, and the watering of the crops, we will have to prepare for floods, landslides and outbreaks of disease.

But recovery will require more than one good rainy season. Development related problems do not and should not need to become emergencies.

The United Nations humanitarian agencies are working with a broad consortium of aid groups on a package of actions in the Inter Agency Standing Committee to address these issues in the short, medium and long term, along with the governments and regional bodies in the Horn of Africa.

Our humanitarian emergency life-saving programmes – which are based on assessed needs – can move towards gradually building resilience to future shocks. For example, modern pastoralism can make a way of life in a challenging environment sustainable, instead of lurching from one emergency to the next.

All of this we must do. Preventing the next descent toward a future drought emergency requires us to heed early warning alarms, preposition supplies, safeguard livelihoods and ways of life, offer and accept emergency assistance, and mobilize resources, including donor resources.

We can end drought emergencies by building resilience. But we need to end this drought emergency as our immediate task.