The Midterm Review of the Implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030 – Ethiopian Voluntary National Report, September 2022
HIGHLIGHTS AND INTRODUCTION
The Ethiopian Disaster Risk Management Commission (EDRMC) was established in 2015 by the Council of Ministers through Regulation No. 363/2015 and was relocated in late 2021 to report directly to the Prime Minister (fig 1). It is responsible for coordinating and supporting the implementation of the 2013 DRM policy and strategy throughout its organizational structures, at all administrative levels and across all relevant sectors.
Ethiopia showed its commitment to the Sendai framework for disaster risk reduction and its implementation modality in Africa–the program of action (POA)–by aligning the National Policy and Strategy on Disaster Risk Management and its strategic program and investment framework with these two global and continental frameworks. The alignment with both accords in Ethiopia was manifested in different initiatives and programs. For instance: in the country’s DRM mainstreaming guideline, disaster risk-informed development planning manuals, and DRM research and training road map, as well as other tools and approaches developed with partners since 2015. Additionally, as part of this endeavor and with the view to implement decentralization/localization of the DRM policy, it was translated into local anguages in addition to Amharic, such as Oromiffa and Somali. Furthermore, as part of the ongoing government reform process, the EDRMC gained autonomy and is now under the PM’s office. This not only showcases the current government’s commitment but also, if implemented, provides leverage in terms of disaster coordination and management at all levels throughout the country. The current reform and evolving changes at national, regional, continental and global levels also gave the organization the opportunity to revise the 2013 DRM policy and strategy that will enforce mainstreaming and decentralization of DRM in all sectoral, regional, zonal and Woreda plans.
Another milestone in 2021 was that, with the financial and technical assistance of Building Resilience in Ethiopia (BRE) and the Ministry of Planning and Development (MPD), DRM actions and strategies were incorporated into the Ten-Year Development Plan (TYDP). EDRMC is currently finalizing the DRM legal framework that will include mandatory legal provisions and associated directives to establish and operationalize the DRM system and establish response thresholds for ownership and accountability. In addition to increased capacity for intervention implementation, the projected changes will necessitate a strong monitoring, evaluation, and learning system that tracks advancements made and outcomes attained through performance indicators. A DRM monitoring and evaluation framework were developed as a result, and the baseline analysis for establishing the measurement targets is currently being completed.
Ethiopia championed priority 1 in several achievements in both rural and urban settings. Through Woreda disaster risk profiling (WDRP), it has collected and profiled risks for 485 woredas and used them to develop disaster risk reduction and contingency plans for over 350 districts. This flagship program profiled and did the same with the breadth of geographically disaggregated and multidimensional data produced at the lowest administrative level possible, to assist risk-informed development planning and achieve a very decentralized early warning system in the country. There have also been accomplishments in the urban setting. The country began profiling urban risks in Addis Ababa in 2015/2016 and has now expanded to Dire Dawa city municipality. Progress has also been made in some sectors, such as the national metrological institute (in charge of providing weather-related information), which has increased its accuracy to 76% in terms of correctly predicting hazards for users and has greatly improved data availability and accessibility.
Despite only working within a few sectors and non-state actors, the country also made significant progress in disaster risk governance. Disaster Risk Governance in Ethiopian DRM policy and policy strategy is well articulated to be decentralized, which has also been well aligned with the constitution model that the country is adopting. The issue of risk governance as a whole requires this. Notwithstanding with owning a well-aligned DRM policy and strategy that provides hazard-specific mandates for line sectors and locating a separate DRM platform at the Federal level, progress was insufficient, given that risk governance must be multi-sectoral, multi-hazard, and multi-disciplinary.
Despite the aforementioned, it doesn’t imply that the country hasn’t advanced in some aspects. The EUDRM decentralization, in which they directly collaborate with regions to implement the DRM strategy, was a component of this risk governance endeavor. The EU-DRM decentralization project is being implemented in five national regional states of the country. Another case in point is the AECID program, which showed significant progress in terms of bringing a model of disaster resilience in Ethiopia to SNNPR.
Despite some increasing efforts, investment in DRR and resilience building in Ethiopia has not progressed very far, as DRR is not sufficiently mainstreamed in policies and investments across all sectors and is not yet fully integrated into the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
In terms of DRM functions, most budgeting and funding continues to be dominated by the response function. This finding is also supported by a recent UNDRR study on risk-sensitive budgeting. Despite the lower level of investment in disaster risk reduction and prevention, the country has made notable progress in lowering natural disaster-related mortality and economic losses. Taking the recent COVID-19 pandemic, drought response in many parts of the country, humanitarian response in Tigray, Amhara, and Afar, and flooding as examples, the country has generally indicated that its disaster preparedness and response have improved significantly during this period.
Partners who have supported EDRMC in making progress on this global agenda, POA and IGAD DRM, include the European Union, USAID, the World Bank Group, UNDRR, and other UN agencies, the CIMA Research Foundation, the Building Resilience in Ethiopia (BRE) project, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, AECID, the Asian Disaster Preparedness Center, EU-DRM decentralization, and all other development partners.
Conflicts, desert locust invasions, climate shocks such as floods and droughts, the impact of COVID-19, reduced financial support, and large national trade deficits leading to high inflation and currency devaluation are key drivers of Ethiopia’s humanitarian needs. These factors limit access to nutritious meals, with 75% of households unable to afford nutritious meals. The auxiliary impacts of the Ukrainian struggle will almost certainly raise the costs of staples and nutrient-dense nourishments, compounding nourishment and nourishment frailty. These challenges and a recent Horn of Africa forecast that drought will worsen due to the fifth consecutive failure of RF and high inflation, as well as other risks, have recently shown signs that they may continue to affect people’s livelihoods and lives unless measures are taken during the SF’s half-implementation period.
Source: Government of Ethiopia