Plateforme AGGRC

African Union Commission and African Risk Capacity joint meeting

Thierry — 2023-07-20T20:56:00Z

AU Member States and other stakeholders have been called upon to ensure gender-sensitive products to their populations. This message was the consolidated call at the inaugural policy Dialogue on Gender, Disaster Risk Reduction, Outbreaks, Epidemics and Food Security held on 4-5 July in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
The much-anticipated event convened policy and decision-makers, representatives from member states, experts and representatives from partner organisations and institutions, think tanks, academia, media and the private sector to deliberate on these topics.

The African Risk Capacity (ARC), a specialised agency of the African Union (AU), in collaboration with the AU Commission through the Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) Unit and the Women, Youth and Gender Directorate, organised the event. The Policy Dialogues are integral to promoting gender equality in implementing policies and programmes on Disaster Risk Management (DRM).

Specifically, the inaugural Policy Dialogue sought to facilitate the transformation of DRM approaches to attain gender equality for vulnerable women and men in Africa ; sensitise policymakers on the interlinkages between climate disasters, disease outbreaks, food security, and the associated gender implications ; and share experiences and lessons learnt on the implementation of gender & DRM and food security from ARC member states. The Dialogue also aimed to reflect on the importance of strengthening monitoring systems and predictive analysis for additional, more frequent and qualitative updates on food crises ; identify ways to expedite the implementation of phase II matrix 2021-2025 of the Programme of Action for the implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030 in Africa ; and discuss policy options to implement the Nairobi Declaration, which calls for the Member States and RECs to increase the annual budgetary allocation and establish innovative financing solutions for implementing gender-sensitive and inclusive DRR strategies, programmes and action plans.

Mr Gatkuoth Kai, the AUC Technical Coordinator for Disaster Risk Reduction, who represented HE Ambassador Josefa Sacko, Commissioner for Agriculture, Rural Development, Blue Economy and Sustainable Environment (ARBE), noted that "The Dialogue is very relevant, given what we, as a continent, have been experiencing lately - from the locust upsurge in East Africa to record-breaking drought and food insecurity, the COVID-19 pandemic, recurring floods and destructive cyclones". He said, "disasters are here to stay and more needs to be done to counter the growing disaster events."

Dr Tapiwa Nyasulu-Rweyemamu, the Head of the Gender Policy and Development Division at the AUC's Women, Gender and Youth Directorate, spoke in-depth about the institution's activities, including the AU Guidelines on Gender-Responsive Responses to COVID-19 in 2020. In collaboration with ARC, the Directorate was also pivotal in establishing the Gender and Disaster Risk Management Platform (GDRMP) in 2021.

Dr Ibrahima Cheikh Diong, United Nations Assistant-Secretary General and ARC Group Director General, lauded the Policy Dialogue series as a game-changer, saying, "Key stakeholders with experience in embedding the gender angle indifferent interventions are in attendance. We are happy that the Member States are present. We also recognise the support of the European Union and the Government of Canada that continue to enable our work." He underscored the importance of going beyond talk in mainstreaming gender in DRM. "We must be deliberate in driving for gender equality in DRM and all our other efforts to achieve true resilience to the growing threats of climate change, outbreaks, epidemics and food insecurity. These pause a significant risk to our development, and we cannot afford to leave anyone behind."

Dr Chimimba David Phiri, Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) Subregional Coordinator for Eastern Africa and Representative to the AUC and UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), pointed out that increasing disasters are the new norm. Disasters take lives and devastate livelihoods in rural areas. FAO has a history of long-term experience in mainstreaming DRR in agricultural plans through risk mapping, application of geospatial information in risk management and multi-hazard risk assessment. Its best practices include using early warning systems in Malawi's disease surveillance and food security. FAO is committed to enhancing gender-disaggregated data and long-term recovery. The organisation also signed a Memorandum of Understanding with ARC on 1 February 2023.

Lara Bremner, Counsellor and Head of Cooperation, Pan Africa and Regional Development, expressed how the Government of Canada is proud to partner with and have a strong position on feminism and women and girls.

Other critical best practices from the Dialogue included the application of gender-sensitive budgeting and gender mainstreaming with the positioning of a gender director in every ministry in Zimbabwe. Towards early warning systems, the Government of Zimbabwe also procured a weather radar system in 2022.

Rita Missal, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Global Recovery Advisor, explained that the organisation supported the AU Commission in developing the COVID-19 Recovery Framework for Africa. Ms Missal noted, "One of the biggest lessons from the global pandemic is preparedness for recovery ; therefore, as we address any crisis, we should also address the long-term recovery."

The Policy Dialogue pointed out various challenges, including significant impediments in the legal and institutional capacity of gender. More gaps also exist in pre-disaster preparedness and financing. The lack of disaggregated gender data to influence policy or inform actionable steps in disaster risk management remains challenging.

Participants emphasised essential aspects such as women's empowerment, women's ownership of land, meeting the basic needs of women and girls during disasters, prioritising resource mobilisation at a local level, gender mainstreaming and analysis, and enhancing access to advanced technologies to promote sustainable food and agriculture systems as critical to driving the change we want.

As a follow-up, the recommendations and outcomes of the policy dialogue will feed into relevant regional and global events and processes. A report of the Dialogue will inform the next steps in this process. The recommendations will be translated into a policy brief that will be published on the Gender and Disaster Risk Management Platform and also on the AU website.

Under the leadership of the African Union, the Policy Dialogue was made possible by ARC's partners, Global Affairs Canada and the European Union Commission. It was a collaboration with the FAO, an example of the impact of working together to achieve the same goal.

For further information, please contact :

Mr. Gatkuoth Kai| Technical Coordinator for Disaster Risk Reduction| Directorate of Sustainable Environment and Blue Economy, | E-mail : KaiG@africa-union.org | WhatsApp : +251 909537884

For media enquiry :

Mr. Molalet Tsedeke, Information and Communications Directorate | African Union Commission|+251-911-630 631 ; Molalett@africa-union.org

Ms. Maryanne Muriuki, Communication Specialist, Disaster Risk Reduction Unit, Department of Agriculture, Rural Development, Blue Economy and Sustainable Environment, AU Commission. Email : MuriukiM@africa-union.org

The African Risk Capacity Group holds the West Africa Regional Consultation on gender-responsive mechanisms for epidemic preparedness in the ECOWAS region

Thierry — 2023-03-22T21:52:00Z

The African Risk Capacity Group [1]holds the West Africa Regional Consultation on gender-responsive mechanisms for epidemic preparedness in the ECOWAS region

On 20 and 21 March 2023 in Dakar, the ARC Group's Gender and Outbreaks & Epidemics (O&E) teams, and the West & Central Africa Office, with the support of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundations (BMGF), convened the West Africa Regional consultation on gender-responsive mechanisms for epidemic preparedness in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). The Regional Consultation followed the December 2022 launch of the ARC Group O&E product when the Government of Senegal became the first country to take out the sovereign parametric insurance policy for protecting its population against high-impact disease outbreaks.

The Regional Consultation was attended by government expertsrepresenting ministries of gender, public health, disaster risk management, and finance from the six ECOWAS member states prioritised by the ARC-BMGF project, namely Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Nigeria, Senegal, and Sierra Leone ; as well as regional partners – the West African Health Organization (WAHO/OOAS), the WHO Health Emergencies Programme Dakar Hub, and the World Food Programme Regional Bureau Dakar ; the policy and advocacy action tank Speak Up Africa ; ARC's Alliance partner AfriCatalyst ; and media, with the common vision to safeguard the health security in the African region.

The Regional Consultation was a great opportunity to bring stakeholders together to debate critical issues that affect countries' resilience to epidemic-prone diseases, particularly its interaction with pre-existing gender inequalities which have the impact of compounding the vulnerability of communitiesin this regard. It also sought to align stakeholders' thinking and provide a platform to deliberate on the issues on the ground towards developing an understanding and an appropriate action plan to support the roll-out of gender-responsive mechanisms for epidemic preparedness in the region.
In addition to presenting and launching the implementation work plan, amongst other things, the Regional Consultation also aimed to sensitise delegates on ARC's model, particularly its Outbreaks & Epidemics (O&E) programme ; introduce the ARC Gender Strategy and gender transformative strategies for effectively managing public health emergencies ; and highlight acute health emergencies affecting the ECOWAS region and gendered impacts. Importantly, the findings from these discussions will feed into the identification of potential post-project actions.

In his opening remarks, Mr. Robert Kwame Agyarko, ARC's O&E Lead Advisor, stressed, “To truly control outbreaks and prevent epidemics and pandemics, there must be strong national, regional and continental policies, with adequate and timely financing to ensure resilience to epidemics”, sentiments echoed by stakeholders throughout the event. Further, he emphasised five key areas of focus that are important in building Africa's resilience to epidemics :

epidemic preparedness, readiness and response ;
contingency planning and early response funding ;
R&D and the production of vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics ;
investment in human capital, workforce, systems and infrastructures ;
strong political will, institutional investment in human capital, workforce, systems and infrastructures, and
strong political will, institutional collaborations, and a common agenda aligned at all levels.

Discussions also highlighted the need for a gendered approach to building resilience, with an overwhelming consensus that the issue of gender was long overdue as a key priority in all aspects of Disaster Risk Management.

The impacts of natural disasters, and indeed of disease outbreaks are never gender-neutral as they deepen pre-existing gender inequalities, exposing vulnerabilities in social, political, and economic systems, making a strong case for rapid gender-responsive mechanisms.

reiterated Dr. Christiana George, ARC's Gender Advisor and Head of Gender Unit.

Stakeholders used their experiences and expertise to explore defining topics such as health systems service delivery, the institutional structures and policies in place to support countries in disease management, and the important role of partnerships and resource mobilisation at country and regional levels to enable this work. The group discussions on day 2 of the workshop were especially important in identifying gaps and allowed participants to provide best practice examples that can be incorporated into the plan. Participants drew on experiences gained from moments like the height of the recent COVID-19 pandemic and other well-known public emergencies in the regions ; gender inequality evident in aspects such as the increasing gender-based violence ; the missed opportunities for technical collaboration across the continent ; the lack of policies to support the necessary resilience-building work ; limited resources and many other challenges provided lessons learnt in exploring the challenges.

Member states and partners formulated key recommendations such as the importance of further empowering women ; the need for inter-ministerial communication and collaboration ; and the promotion and implementation of the gender approach at the community level.

ARC's mandate is to help member states plan, prepare and respond to natural disaster threats, and indeed outbreaks and epidemics. As part of operationalising the O&E solution, ARC will work with participating countries to (i) conduct epidemic risk profiling to understand the risks that each country faces and its gender dimensions ; (ii) outbreak modelling to inform gender interventions ; (iii) develop gender-responsive contingency plans ; and (iv) risk transfer instruments for rapid deployment of capital to operationalise the pre-approved gender-responsive contingency plan.

The Regional Consultation confirmed the common vision to strengthen Africa's response and highlighted some of the work being done towards this goal, and challenged delegates to identify gaps and propose solutions to mitigate the gendered impact of health emergencies at all levels. The sessions gave perspective on the work ahead at country and regional levels, and the need for a collaborative approach if we are to build Africa's resilience to outbreaks and epidemics, but gender equality remains pivotal in building true resilience and therefore has to be at centre of any efforts.

In her closing remarks, Mrs. Eva Kavuma, ARC's Chief Operations Officer, appreciated the delegates for the fruitful discussions, and the openness with which issues were debated. This ECOWAS region workshop will serve as a template in other consultations to follow.

[1] The African Risk Capacity (ARC) Group consists of ARC Agency and ARC Limited (ARC Ltd). ARC Agency was established in 2012 as a Specialized Agency of the African Union to help the Member States improve their capacities to better plan, prepare and respond to weather-related disasters. ARC Ltd is a mutual insurance facility providing risk transfer services to the Member States through risk pooling and access to reinsurance markets.
ARC was established on the principle that investing in preparedness and early warning through an innovative financing approach is highly cost-effective and can save upward of four dollars for every dollar invested ex-ante.
With the support of the United Kingdom, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland, Canada, France, the European Union, the Rockefeller Foundation, and the United States, ARC assists the AU Member States in reducing the risk of loss and damage caused by extreme weather events affecting Africa's populations by providing, through sovereign disaster risk insurance, targeted responses to natural disasters in a more timely, cost-effective, objective, and transparent manner. ARC is now using its expertise to help tackle some of the other most significant threats faced by the continent, including floods and outbreaks & epidemics.
Since 2014, more than 100 insurance policies have been signed by the Member States for cumulative insurance coverage of about USD 1 billion for the protection of over 100 million vulnerable populations in participating countries.

For more information, please visit : www.arc.int/gender-platform

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Contacts
Dr. Christina George | ARC's Gender Advisor and Head of Gender Unit | E-mail : christiana.george@wfp.org
Mr. Robert Kwame Agyarko | ARC's O&E Lead Advisor | E-mail : robert.agyarko@arc.int