NAIROBI, Sept. 7 (Xinhua) -- An East African bloc ended a two-day meeting in Nairobi by revolving to promote research, dissemination and adoption of innovative technologies that are relevant for the implementation of drought resilience.
Delegates attending the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) drought resilience general assembly meeting which ended in Nairobi on Friday evening agreed to scale up resilience innovations, including early warning systems for early action.
"We intend to use renewable energy options that will improve the livelihoods of the communities in the Arid and Semi Arid Lands (ASALs)," the delegates said in a joint statement.
During the meeting, delegates launched the new IGAD Drought Disaster Resilience and Sustainability Initiative (IDDRSI) programming frameworks to guide the implementation of IDDRSI during the five year period.
The eight-member bloc which comprises of Djibouti, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan and Uganda agreed to prioritize the region's intervention by incorporating human capital, gender and social development within the revised IDDRSI strategy.
The delegates agreed to pay special attention to the issues of migration and displacement, conflict sensitivity, youth, women, children and persons with disability.
The delegates urged member states to develop a robust monitoring and evaluation and impact assessment framework for the revised country programming papers aligned with regional, continental and global result frameworks.
"This will facilitate effective measurement of collective outcomes and better harmonization and coordination of funds for resilience using a single results framework," said the bloc.
The delegates urged all IGAD member states to provide access to data and information related to the implementation of the IDDRSI strategy and appealed to all development partners to support the rolling out of the processes and tools for sharing information.
The member states recognized the growing challenges of conflict and humanitarian concerns as well as the increasing drivers of fragility in the region and recommended the intensification of resource mobilization to support both humanitarian interventions and resilience-enhancing projects.
Participants announced plans to hold a resilience investment conference to attract new partners and strategies to improve access to the climate fund.
They agreed to promote engagement with the private sector in the implementation of IDDRSI strategy and recommended the development and application of the risk transfer mechanisms in livestock and crop insurance.
