Improving resilience among the rural communities in the Horn of Africa

Context

The region of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) in the Horn of Africa consists of 70 per cent arid or semi-arid land (ASALs), and it often experiences drought-related disasters. The regionis also marked by internal and cross-border conflicts. With an estimated population of 80 million pastoralists and agro-pastoralists in the IGAD region, these factors have led 8.7 million of them to abandon their livelihoods. Thus, the project target group is the poor pastoral and agro-pastoral population of the arid and semi-arid zones in the IGAD region.

Objective

IGAD’s performance in providing services to its member states is enhanced.

Approach

The project has four priority fields of action:

1. Improving the IGAD Secretariat’s regional services for its member states in cross-border disaster risk management caused mainly by climate change.
2. Supporting local pastoral and agro-pastoral communities in becoming more resilient to natural disasters.
3. Implementing regional, transnational, real-time disease surveillance and monitoring to mitigate pandemics.
4. Reducing the impact of local conflicts in cross-border areas and improve resilience through enhanced coordination of cross-border management

The approach aims to improve the functionality of the Regional Economic Community (REC) through capacity-development activities.

Last update: April 2025