Devastating impact of El Nino and Climate requires new response model

Addis Ababa, 7 July 2016: The newly-appointed United Nations Special Envoy on El Niño & Climate Mrs Mary Robinson, said in her remarks at a meeting with UN agencies and humanitarian donors on the impact of El Niño in Ethiopia that responses by governments and international partners to climactic events must urgently integrate humanitarian, development and resilience strategies to ensure effective, coherent and sustainable change.

“We must embrace the reality that climate change is increasing the frequency and ferocity of natural disasters and will continue to do so. It is no longer effective to view the devastating impact of these climate events from a humanitarian lens alone. Governments and the international community must urgently focus on reducing vulnerability of the poorest communities so that these events are not recurring humanitarian crises. Humanitarian, development and resilience interventions must be integrated in response planning to include institutional reforms, rural development, economic opportunities, increased access to energy, and strengthened public service management” Mrs Robinson said in her remarks at meetings in Addis Ababa with UN agencies, NGOs and donors.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon appointed Mary Robinson (former President of Ireland, former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and founder of the Mary Robinson Foundation – Climate Justice) and Ambassador Kamau (Kenya’s Permanent Representative to the UN in New York) as his Special Envoys on El Niño and Climate in late May, tasking them with calling attention to the more than 60 million people around the world affected by severe El Niño-linked drought and climate impacts, and mobilising an integrated response that takes preparedness for future climactic events into account.

Mrs Robinson completed a three-day visit to Ethiopia to witness the devastating impact of the El Nino drought, the worst in 50 years. During this mission the Special Envoy met with the Ethiopian authorities, international ambassadors, UN agencies, and development and humanitarian partners before visiting several projects in Tigray in northern Ethiopia. She acknowledged the enormous effort of government and partners to address the impact of the crisis, including malnutrition, which has helped prevent deaths. She also underscored that these efforts must continue and more resources will be required.

“The Ethiopian Government has taken important and impressive steps to respond early to the crisis facing their people, including with substantial amounts of funding from their own budget. This crisis is not over, nor will it be the last. It is critical that international donors stay engaged and focused on supporting efforts to respond both to the immense immediate needs and long term requirements to build resilience” Mrs. Robinson said.

In Tigray, Mrs Robinson observed firsthand how smart water management and innovative resilience schemes can mitigate the impact of El Nino even in a challenging environment.

Mrs. Robinson said: "This visit reinforced my belief that, when preparing for the inevitability of the next El Nino, we need to look more closely now at how we support local communities in the management of water systems and other natural resources, rendering them more resilient."

For further information, please contact:
Alexander Binns, Humanitarian Affairs Officer - Strategic Communications Unit, UN
OCHA Ethiopia. Tel: +251 115 444 059 Email: | Email: binns@un.org