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1. Concurrent Crises in the Horn of Africa

Author:
Kurtzer Jacob D., Sierra Ballard, and Hareem Fatima Abdullah
Publication Date:
06-2022
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Institute for Security and International Studies (ISIS)
Abstract:
The greater Horn of Africa, stretching from southern Ethiopia to northern Kenya and Somalia, is experiencing its worst drought in four decades. A fourth consecutive failed rainy season caused by the La Niña weather phenomenon has generated extreme drought conditions that have curtailed agricultural production, destroyed crops, and killed more than 3 million livestock, threatening the livelihoods and lives of millions of farmers and pastoralists. Across the region, more than 20 million people currently face starvation, and nearly 6 million children under the age of five are acutely malnourished. The number of individuals impacted by acute food insecurity will likely increase to over 25 million by mid-2022, hitting conflict-affected Ethiopia and Somalia the hardest, potentially leading to widespread malnutrition and starvation. Droughts in the region are not new, but they are becoming more frequent and severe, resulting in longer-term impacts. Climate models forecast the upcoming October–December rains to underperform, meaning the region will likely see an unprecedented five-season drought. Rangelands are unable to recover from increasing drought cycles and pastoralist livelihoods may no longer be viable in many areas. The current drought is the latest of many crises afflicting the Horn, including the Covid-19 pandemic, devastating floods, and locust outbreaks. The Horn is also one of the most conflict-affected regions of the world. Each country in the Horn has experienced some measure of political strife for decades. Conflict and violence have compounded the effects of climatic shocks on affected populations by creating additional needs and barriers for international humanitarian organizations and frontline local actors. Women and girls are bearing the brunt of these concurrent crises due to prevailing gender inequalities, which hinder their participation in decisionmaking mechanisms and humanitarian response and recovery efforts, undermining the integration of local actors in humanitarian action. While resilience-building efforts have made some progress in mitigating impacts from drought, they are not yet scaled to the overwhelming need. The combined effects of the climatic and political crises necessitate both an emergency humanitarian response and the implementation of long-term climate adaptation and resilience strategies.
Topic:
Environment, Water, Disaster Management, and Drought
Political Geography:
Africa

2. Learning from the Ebola Response in cities: Population movement

Author:
Leah Campbell
Publication Date:
05-2017
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
ALNAP: Active Learning Network for Accountability and Performance
Abstract:
The West African Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) outbreak in 2014/15 posed a number of urban-specific challenges to humanitarians responding to the crisis. ALNAP's Learning from the Ebola Response in cities series brings together the lessons learnt from the response in West Africa, with each paper focusing on a topic: quarantine, population movement, and engaging with communities. Population movement Population mobility is a critical area of concern in any infectious disease crisis, and particularly in those spread through human-to-human contact, such as Ebola. During the West African Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) outbreak in 2014/15, population mobility within and between urban and rural areas became a key challenge for humanitarian response. This paper explores the urban dimensions of population mobility, including forces for and drivers of mobility as well as the implications for humanitarian response.
Topic:
Ebola, Mobility, Urban, Disaster Management, and Epidemic
Political Geography:
Africa and West Africa

3. Learning from the Ebola Response in Cities: Responding in the context of urban quarantine

Author:
Leah Campbell, Christopher Adan, and Milimer Morgado
Publication Date:
05-2017
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
ALNAP: Active Learning Network for Accountability and Performance
Abstract:
The West African Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) outbreak in 2014/15 posed a number of urban-specific challenges to humanitarians responding to the crisis. ALNAP's 'Learning from Ebola' series brings together the lessons learnt from the response in West Africa, with each paper focusing on a topic: quarantine, population movement, and engaging with communities. Quarantine This paper brings together lessons from interviews with humanitarians and local responders, as well as existing literature, about the use of quarantine in urban environments during the humanitarian response to the Ebola Crisis.
Topic:
Ebola, Urban, Cities, Disaster Management, Epidemic, and Humanitarian Response
Political Geography:
Africa, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea

4. Ebola Response in Cities: Learning for Future Public Health Crises

Author:
Leah Campbell
Publication Date:
06-2017
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
ALNAP: Active Learning Network for Accountability and Performance
Abstract:
The 2014/15 West African Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) outbreak was the ‘largest, most severe and most complex Ebola epidemic the world has ever seen’ (WHO, 2014b). It was the first time the disease had affected an urban centre. The 23 prior outbreaks of EVD in Africa had all been largely rural, and the largest outbreak, in Gulu, Uganda, had infected only 425 people. As such, there was no expectation or experience of a massive urban outbreak. While the unprecedented ‘urban-ness’ of this EVD outbreak did not go unnoticed, particularly by the media, overall this recognition did not result in an urban-appropriate response. As part of a learning initiative spanning across the EVD epidemic in West Africa, this paper aims to share reflections and learning about the urban nature of the EVD outbreak. In doing so, it aims to improve future urban public health responses. It builds on existing learning around the EVD response, focusing on urban issues as a noted gap in the key literature on the response thus far.
Topic:
Development, Health, Humanitarian Aid, Ebola, Urban, Disaster Management, and Epidemic
Political Geography:
Africa, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea

5. outh Sudan Gender Analysis: A snapshot situation analysis of the differential impact of the humanitarian crisis on women, girls, men and boys in South Sudan

Author:
Oxfam Publishing
Publication Date:
03-2017
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:
The continuing conflict in South Sudan, which began in December 2013, is having a devastating impact on the lives and livelihoods of millions of South Sudanese women, men, boys and girls, with the result that South Sudan is now one of the most food-insecure countries in the world. Women and men of all ages are suffering from the effects of conflict, including abuses and loss of control over, and access to, vital resources. This report presents the results of a gender analysis field study conducted in South Sudan in May-June 2016. The study was carried out as part of the ECHO-ERC project ‘Institutionalizing Gender in Emergencies: Bridging Policy and Practice’. The report highlights the different impacts the conflict is having on women and men; whether and how these needs are being addressed; and where opportunities may exist for UN agencies, donors, South Sudanese authorities and civil society to incorporate a stronger gender element into their programmes and responses. It also aims to explain how programmes can be gender-sensitive in times of protracted conflict.
Topic:
Civil Society, United Nations, Humanitarian Intervention, Food Assistance, and Disaster Management
Political Geography:
Africa and South Sudan

6. From Early Warning to Early Action in Somalia: What can we Learn to Support Early Action to Mitigate Humanitarian Crises?

Author:
Emma Feeny
Publication Date:
10-2017
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:
More than three years after it was initiated in the aftermath of the 2011 famine, the early-warning, early-action trigger mechanism for Somalia remains a work in progress. This paper looks at how the mechanism has functioned during the 2016/7 drought crisis response, uncovers a widespread consensus about the value of the tool, and explores the challenges involved in developing the dashboard, generating support and putting in place an accountability framework. It looks for learning around the effectiveness of such tools, which could potentially support similar models in other countries. This paper also highlights suggestions from a range of stakeholders regarding actions that might support greater buy-in to the dashboard and broader collaboration at all levels, helping ensure the mechanism meets its aim of facilitating decision making for early action, thereby better protecting the people of Somalia.
Topic:
Human Rights, Famine, Humanitarian Crisis, and Disaster Management
Political Geography:
Somalia and Africa