WINDHOEK – Namibia will host another first for the country when it facilitates the Ministry of Environment and Tourism’s African Drought Conference under the theme: “Enhancing resilience to drought events on the African continent” at a local hotel from May 11 to 15, 2015.
Africa is highly vulnerable to drought events with about a third of the population living in drought-prone areas and 97 percent of agriculture being rain-fed.
Drought has devastating economic, environment and social impacts in terms of loss of human life, food insecurity, reduced agricultural productivity, and degradation of natural resources. Namibia is the driest country south of the Sahara and is currently suffering the effects of another drought.
The majority of African countries continue to be inadequately prepared to cope with droughts, which are set to become more frequent with climate change.
Only a few countries in the world have fully-fledged drought management policies, while interventions in most countries tend to focus on reacting after the event rather than mitigating the impacts of drought through enhancing preparedness over the long term.
In line with its role as UNCCD COP11 president, the Ministry of Environment and Tourism is organising this conference as a follow up to the outcomes of the high-level meeting on national drought policies (HMNDP) held in Geneva in 2013, and will focus on identifying the specific needs of African countries in the area of effective drought mitigation, with a view to developing a strategic framework for enhancing resilience to drought events on the African continent.
The overall objective of the conference would be to develop an overarching strategic framework for Africa to enhance its resilience to the impact of drought events. The specific objectives of the conference would be to:
• Focus regional and international attention on the issue of drought mitigation;
• Identify needs and shortcomings as well as good practices in the area of drought mitigation;
• Move towards a framework for enhance resilience to drought impacts on the African continent; and
• Strengthen partnerships and cooperation for enhanced drought resilience.
Conference Approach
The conference would comprise a three-day meeting of technical experts followed by a one-and-a-half-day high-level segment, involving responsible African ministers and other high-level stakeholders.
Conference Participants
The main participants would be:
• UNCCD national focal points and responsible ministers from each African country;
• Regional and Pan-African organisations;
•Representatives from Namibian institutions responsible for drought management;
•UN agencies and development partners;
•Research institutions and academics;
•Civil society and community-based organisations;
•Private sector
Outcomes from the Conference
The conference would set in motion the process to develop a strategic framework for enhancing resilience to drought at continental level that would contribute to poverty alleviation, economic development and enhance environmental and human well-being. The work of the conference would be guided by an agenda for action white paper document, which would be circulated ahead of the conference.
With this in mind, the outcomes of the conference would be brought to the attention of the African Union for possible endorsement by African heads of state and government. Namibia, as president of the COP11 bureau, would transmit a report on the outcomes of the conference to the COP 12 to galvanise additional support from the parties.