Posted on: By: arcuser
The 29th African Union Summit is taking place in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia from 29 June to 4 July 2017. African Heads of State, African Union Commissioners, and African governments officials across the continent are convening to discuss pressing issues on the continent and African-led solutions to address them. As a Specialized Agency of the African Union, African Risk Capacity is attending the AU Summit and presenting our comprehensive solution to detecting, funding, and responding to climate risks. You can follow us throughout the summit on Twitter as we forge a path towards a climate resilient and food secure Africa, together with our partners in African governments and the African Union Commission, by building awareness of and action upon the synergies between ARC and the AU's missions. Here, we will publish some of the highlights. [box type="shadow" align="" class="" width=""]

ARC Press Briefing at 29th African Union Summit Solidarity and Innovation for Disaster Risk Financing in Africa

ARC held a press briefing on Sunday, 2 July 2017 featuring a high-level panel discussion on the topic "Solidarity and Innovation for Disaster Risk Financing in Africa".  The panel included the Deputy Chairperson of the African Union, H.E. Thomas Kwesi Quartley; Permanent Representative to the AU and Ambassador to Ethiopia of Guinea, H.E. Sidibe Fatoumata Kaba; the Head of Aid of Global Affairs Canada, Kati Csaba; and ARC Director-General Mohamed Beavogui. The press briefing aimed to enhance the understanding of ARC's mission, work, successes, and potential to improve the social, economic, and environmental conditions of Africa through a sustainable African-owned, African-led initiative. Mr. Beavogui and Ms. Csaba also announced the grant of 40 million Canadian dollars from the Government of Canada to ARC, with a special focus on implementing a gender strategy in ARC's work to help protect and empower women and girls who too often suffer disproportionately when disaster strikes. With the participation of our partners from country, AU, and international levels, the press briefing demonstrated the support for ARC's innovative work across borders. As H.E. Quartley said, "We believe that working in tandem, together, we can build an African institution to meet the needs of our member states, and even more importantly, to affect positively the lives of our most vulnerable who are disproportionally affected by climate change and natural disasters, very often manmade. It is no longer enough to talk about these situations and lament. We must act in the interest of the most vulnerable." To see the full webcast of the press briefing, click here. [/box] [box type="shadow" align="" class="" width=""]

Chairperson of the African Union

[caption id="attachment_1572" align="aligncenter" width="500"] AU Chairperson H.E. Moussa Faki Mahamat and ARC Director General Mohamed Beavogui[/caption]

ARC met with the Chairperson of the African Union, H.E. Moussa Faki Mahamat, to introduce ARC's work, impact on African disaster response systems, and relevance in the African Union reform process.

"There is a need for the continent to forecast and anticipate disasters before they occur, in order to be able to respond effectively. There is no sustainability in entrusting the continent's future to humanitarian aid. A tool like the ARC can help address this in a very relevant way." - H.E. Moussa Faki Mahamat

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Deputy Chairperson of the African Union

[caption id="attachment_1573" align="aligncenter" width="500"] ARC Agency Director General, Mohamed Beavogui and H.E Ambassador Thomas Kwesi Quartey, AU Deputy Chairperson[/caption]

ARC met with the Deputy Chairperson of the African Union, H.E. Amabassador Kwesi Quartey, to discuss how ARC serves to enable African governments to manage their climate risks before disaster strikes by ensuring financial resources are available when its people needs them most.

[/box] [box type="shadow" align="" class="" width=""] African Union Commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture [caption id="attachment_1574" align="aligncenter" width="500"] Mohamed Beavogui and H.E. Correa Leonel Josefa Sacko, AU Commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture[/caption] ARC met with AU Commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture, H.E. Correa Leonel Josefa Sacko, to elaborate on the ways ARC and the Department of Rural Economy and Agriculture (DREA) can work together strategically on environmental and disaster risk reduction issues.

“Be assured that we will support you. This is our institution”. - H.E. Correa Leonel Josefa Sacko

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African Union Commissioner for Political Affairs

[caption id="attachment_1575" align="aligncenter" width="500"] Mohamed Beavogui and Minata Samate-Cessouma, AU Commissioner for Political Affairs[/caption]

ARC met with the African Union Commissioner for Political Affairs, H.E. Minata Samate-Cessouma, to highlight how ARC creates faster, more efficient, and more sustainable responses to humanitarian crises across the continent.

"We do not want to remain in response mode. We want to go beyond and build resilience and ARC is a key instrument to support this" - H.E. Minata Samate-Cessouma

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African Union Commissioner for Social Affairs

[caption id="attachment_1576" align="aligncenter" width="500"] Mohamed Beavogui and H.E. Dr. Amira El Fadil, AU Commissioner for Social Affairs[/caption]

ARC met with the AU Commissioner for Social Affairs, H.E. Dr. Amira El Fadil, to explore opportunities for closer collaboration between ARC and the AU's social protection efforts, including aligned advances of ARC's Outbreaks and Epidemics programme with the Africa Centre for Disease Control (Africa CDC).

"Africa needs your work, and also Social Affairs and the Centre for Disease Control. Let us ensure that the partnerships between Africa CDC and ARC is enlarged." - H.E. Dr. Amira El Fadil

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African Union Commissioner for Peace and Security

[caption id="attachment_1577" align="aligncenter" width="500"] ARC and Ambassador Smail Chergui, AU Commissioner for Peace and Security[/caption]

ARC met with AU Commissioner for Peace and Security, Ambassador Smail Chergui, to discuss ways to work together to build peace in the continent through ensuring that food security neither leads to nor escalates conflict through early intervention.

"We must collaborate. It is not just about early warning. It is also about early action." - H.E. Ambassador Smail Chergui

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Mohamed Beavogui Interviewed on BBC

[caption id="attachment_1578" align="aligncenter" width="500"] ARC Director-General Mohamed Beavogui interviewed by BBC[/caption]

ARC Director-General Mohamed Beavogui was interviewed by BBC on the sidelines of the AU Summit. The video interview will be included in an upcoming BBC series on drought in Africa.

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