Joseph Okello (Left)- a Programme Officer at FAO Uganda, hands over seed and other livelihood support items to a member of a flood affected community in northern Uganda

According to the Office of the Prime Minister, in 2020, Uganda was ranked 15^th globally and 1^st in Africa, among countries most affected by natural disasters, including floods, landslides, droughts, desert locusts, windstorm, hailstorm and lightning. Floods and landslides have affected all regions in Uganda over the last five years. Natural disasters like drought and man-made crises like conflict can destroy lives and wipe out years of development in a matter of hours or seconds. Multilateral support is therefore critical in empowering national governments to increase the resilience of people and their livelihoods to these disasters.

It is against this background that the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Department of Relief, Disaster Preparedness and Management in the Office of the Prime Minister of the Government of Uganda, convened a National Preparedness Dialogue from 17-18 November 2021. The dialogue provided a platform to build on lessons from recent disasters to identify concrete actions to enhance preparedness and manage future disaster risk.

During the dialogue, which was attended by development agencies, district local governments, legislators, donor agencies and officials from different Government ministries, agencies and departments, participants underscored the multiple hazards that threaten Uganda and critical actions to increase national preparedness to future shocks. The Dialogue was supported through the USAID-funded Desert Locust Livelihoods Impact Assessment project in the Department of Relief, Disaster Preparedness and Management in the Office of the Prime Minister, supported by the European Union, World Food Programme (WFP) and FAO.

“This event marks a distinct milestone in Government efforts to shift from re-active disaster management to pro-active disaster management”, said Honourable Esther Anyakun- Minister of State for Relief, Disaster Preparedness and Refugees, while officiating at the event. She noted that the Office of the Prime Minister is currently undertaking a number of disaster preparedness measures such as stock piling essential relief and non-food items in anticipation of a long drought in the next few months. The country is also developing a National Disaster Risk Management plan in line with the current and future priorities, commitments and policies of the Government of Uganda. Uganda is a disaster-prone country, exposed to multiple-types of hazards. The country is signatory of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, committing to achieve and track progress towards its four priorities during the 2015-2030 period.

FAO Representative in Uganda- Antonio Querido reiterated FAO’s commitment to enhancing resilience and preparedness to natural and man-made hazards such as the desert locust invasion and food shortages. He stressed the importance of planning by learning from past events, to enhance timely response.

“We need to institutionalize preparedness across all levels of society, considering issues of coordination, information management and adequate financing. This will ensure that the development gains which we are all working towards, are not lost in the wake of these disasters”, he said.

“We are facing a reality where the frequency and impact of hazards in Uganda are rising. And if we proceed with business as usual, that means the number of people in need will also increase”, said Ryan Anderson, the WFP Deputy Country Director.

Grace Tusiime-the Under Secretary at the Office of the Prime Minister revealed the Government of Uganda lost over USD 140million to disasters, which mainly affected transportation, housing and agriculture, which are critical to most communities in Uganda. “The nature of hazards is changing and our approach ought to evolve as well”, she said.

Her remarks were reiterated by the Head of Cooperation at the European Union Delegation to Uganda- Caroline Adriaensen. She emphasized the importance of adequate disaster risk financing and resources, partnership and a “whole-of-society” approach to enhanced national preparedness.

“Coordination saves lives. And we must strengthen our cooperation, partnerships and responses to take action together”, she said.

The National Preparedness Dialogue was a result of an extensive and inclusive consultation process that began in April 2021 between the Office of the Prime Minister and FAO. Since the initial discussions, the scope of the Dialogue expanded to enable learning from recent hazards, to underscore the importance of enhancing preparedness with a whole of society approach. FAO and its partners seek to develop the capacities of families, communities and institutions to protect people and their livelihoods, through measures to avoid (prevention) or limit (mitigation and preparedness) the adverse effects of hazards and to provide timely and reliable hazard forecasts.

Most common hazards affecting Uganda in past years

1. Public health outbreaks: cholera, Ebola, zoonotic disease outbreaks like anthrax, avian influenza, rabies and other viral hemorrhagic fevers
2. Floods, the worst occurring in 1961, 1997, 2007 & 2020 – 2021
3. Desert locusts invasion, 2019-2021