The activities proposed hereafter are still subject to the adoption of the financing decision ECHO/WWD/ BUD/2014/01000
AMOUNT: EUR 84 000 000
- CONTEXT
The displacement crisis in the region is both acute and protracted. As a direct consequence of two decades of instability, about 1.3 million refugees, mainly from Somalia but also from Sudan, South Sudan and Eritrea, have fled the consequences of recurrent droughts coupled with clashes and armed conflict to find refuge in neighbouring countries particularly in Ethiopia and Kenya. In addition, almost 1.5 million people are internally displaced in Somalia and Ethiopia.
The region is also regularly exposed to natural disasters such as droughts, floods, landslides, epidemics outbreaks such as Acute Watery Diarrhoea, Malaria, Meningitis, Measles (and Ebola haemorrhagic fever in Uganda) as well as diseases affecting livestock. In 2013 the region has been affected by yellow fever and a worrying polio outbreak, setting back global eradication efforts.
Since the 2010-2011 severe food and nutrition crisis in the region, which led to the declaration of famine in Somalia2 , the overall food security situation has improved as a result of sufficient rainfall, decent harvests and significant international assistance.
However, unprecedented levels of vulnerability, especially in the arid and semi-arid lands, slowing down the recovery and recurrent droughts coupled with still unaddressed structural development challenges and conflicts have undermined the effects of long term development.
Recurrent shocks coupled with still unaddressed structural development challenges and conflicts have many negative consequences such as internal population displacements, destruction of livelihood assets, erosion of coping mechanisms, extreme poverty, food insecurity and under-nutrition, occasionally resulting in violence.
Therefore, building the resilience3 of vulnerable communities in the Horn of Africa to inevitable future shocks is of paramount importance It is in line with the committemnts taken through the EU Communication on Resilience4 , which aims at tackling the underlying key risks and address the structural causes of vulnerability and with the SHARE initiative (Supporting Horn of Africa Resilience).