Experience sharing forum on resilience building for key stakeholders

FAO and the European Commission (EC) organized a national level learning forum focusing on strengthening coordination mechanisms for resilience building for key stakeholders working on resilience on October 7-8 2016 here in Addis Ababa.

“We are developing a greater vision of what we are seeking to accomplish, if we figure out how to work together in a cooperative manner,” Said Mr. Mohamed Salih, Deputy FAO Representative in Ethiopia in his opening remarks. Coordination gives a better chance for people to get the services they need, he added.

FAO Ethiopia implements this coordination project called “Strengthening institutionalized subnational structures and harmonization mechanisms” at the national level since 2015 with financial contributions from the EC-SHARE Program that supports the Horn of Africa’s Resilience programs.

The project aims to establishing effective sub-national coordination structures and harmonization mechanisms (covering both relief and development) with linkages to grass-roots level and federal level coordination structures.

Since the project inception, said Mr. Mohamed, “results have been achieved through establishing DRR – Agricultural Taskforces, building their capacity and improving information sharing among stakeholder organizations and sector bureaus involved in development and humanitarian responses.

The EC-SHARE program aims to strategically link long-term development interventions with short-term humanitarian actions. Mrs. Chantal Hebbart, EU Ambassador to Ethiopia said, “Development is fully recognized by all humanitarian and development actors. The emergence of resilience building agenda offers an opportunity to move from historical divisions into a more holistic, integrated and complementary approach.”

“Coordination, complementing programming, delivers sustainable impact. Coordination is even more complicated when it comes to resilience building as its multi-sectoral nature involves multiple actors. It’s clear that improving coordination is key. I want you to pay attention to building more effective mechanisms to arrive at strong synergies and complementarities of resilience building initiatives,” Mrs. Hebbart added.

The national-level learning forum facilitates experience sharing on good practice, gaps, overlaps and other challenges of coordination structures and mechanisms on food security and resilience building for participants from   federal government line ministries and institutions, coordination structures, and donor agencies, NGOs, academia, and private sector actors working to increase resilience and food security in Ethiopia. Learning forums are also organized at regional level for regional bureaus, departments, FAO field offices, NGOs, regional DRM-TWG/ATF members and other actors working on resilience in the regional states.

For additional information please contact:
Tamiru Legesse l Natioal Communication Officer
Tamiru.[email protected]