We held a very constructive meeting today in Addis with H.E. Hanna Tetteh, Special Envoy of the UN-SG for the Horn of Africa.

We are grateful to her Excellency for sharing her insights on the geopolitical, policy, and political dynamics of the Horn of Africa and their impact on disaster risk management and financing for the region. 

Our exchanges focused, amongst other things, on the need for the continued relevancy of ARC to the Horn of Africa through evidence-based advocacy and the right types of product offerings, a sustained membership drive to bring on board all countries of the region, the need to showcase successes in countries where ARC made insurance payouts, our increased collaboration with other AU entities working on humanitarian and disaster matters to demonstrate complementarity, the impact of AU sanctions on humanitarian interventions, the financial sustainability of ARC, ARC as a successful model of the UN-AU partnership, etc.

Going forward, the Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa and the UN-SG and DG of ARC Group, Ibrahima Cheikh Diong, expressed their strong commitment to joining forces to 1) further advocate for the ARC mechanism within the Horn of Africa given the devastating negative effects of climate change 2 ) undertake joint high-level country engagement within the region, particularly vis a vis Ministers of Finance 3) invite ARC to the next strategic retreat of the Special Envoy’s office for a full presentation of ARC 4 ) explore joint fundraising initiatives to support the growth of ARC. 

Together, let us continue to protect the vulnerable communities in Africa against the negative effects of climate change and Outbreaks and epidemics.