The release of the 2022 Ecological Threats Report by the Institute of Economics and Peace on October 19 brought to bear some inescapable realities that society must now confront.
According to the report, 41 countries are currently facing severe food insecurity, impacting economic development, public health, and social harmony, with 830 million people at risk, 89 per cent of whom are residing in sub-Saharan Africa.
The report and unfolding drought situation present a golden opportunity that Kenya's Cabinet should seize and pivot a whole of government conversation. To start off, three levers of response could inform government discussions. First, establishment of a national emergency response committee, second, framing of the climate financing agenda and third, the need for strategic information and messaging.
In the absence of a national disaster management authority that coordinates whole of government policy, financing and technical resources to both natural and man-made disasters, the default approach by successive regimes has been to establish emergency response committees, task forces and commissions of inquiry. The short-term nature of emergency response committees is that they often centre on private sector resources and underplay government capacity to lead all ministries, departments and agencies towards making a contribution to avert the next disaster.
By this laissez-faire approach, the country has been robbed of the golden opportunity to establish a body of knowledge and best practice of what works, which contacts to call upon and what standard operating procedure should be followed at the start of a humanitarian response. It will therefore be instructive for the Cabinet even as it establishes a drought emergency response committee to also consider the need to fast-track the national disaster management Bill and create a framework for whole of government anticipation, response, recovery and resilience to disasters.
Secondly, as the government prepares the climate financing agenda as the rallying call for COP27, there is a need to acknowledge that beyond appeals for donor funding, it is important to put in place the requisite technical capacity in terms of human resource, technology and governance frameworks to guide a national climate adaptation and mitigation vision. It is one thing to issue calls for external funding and another to put the best brains and technical systems capable of predicting and preparing better for the next disaster cycle.
Thirdly, information plays a crucial role in the humanitarian cycle. It is life-saving and also coordinates efforts so that there is traceability, verifiability and utility of available resources by the most affected. Messaging should go beyond hosting humanitarian appeals in hotels and the clinking of largesse cutlery.
It should include a national situation room that updates in real-time region, county and household level needs and matching allocated resources to ensure no household is left out. It should eliminate duplication of efforts by donors and well-wishers and appropriately balance response to all deserving cases. Messaging should be sequenced and balanced not to be alarmist but to preserve the dignity of those affected while conveying a sense of urgency.
-The writer is a communications and international development specialist.
