ACP-EU DRR Programme Report 2014 - 2017

The Africa, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) - European Union (EU) cooperation Programme “Building Disaster Resilience to Natural Hazards in Sub-Saharan African Regions, Countries and Communities”, financed under the 10th European Development Fund (EDF) was triggered by a request from the African Union Commission(AUC) and the Regional Economic Communities (RECs) for a comprehensive approach to Disaster risk Reduction (DRR), made during the meeting of the Africa Working Group for Disaster Risk Reduction(AWGDRR) in 2013. The Programme’s overall objective is to strengthen the resilience of Sub-Saharan African regions, countries and communities to the impacts of natural disasters, including the potential impacts of climate change, in order to reduce poverty and promote sustainable development. The Programme is the first comprehensive DRR programme of its magnitude in Sub-Saharan Africa and it brings together four organisations that implement different result areas, in line with their mandates and areas of expertise.

In line with its coordination and policy guidance role, the AUC signed a Grant Agreement with the EU to implement the action entitled: “Operationalization of the Extended Programme of Action (PoA 2006-2015) for the Implementation of the Africa Regional Strategy for Disaster Risk Reduction and its successor” under Result Area 1 (R1) of this Programme, which is related to the coordination functions of DRR in Africa. UNISDR implements R1 jointly with AUC, specifically the R1 outcomes on Communication and Advocacy and Education and training. A total of 20 activities shared between AUC and UNISDR are being implemented based on the joint work plan to deliver on five expected outcomes. The UNISDR also signed a contribution agreement with EU to implement the action entitled: “Implementation of Result 1 and 4 of the Programme” to implement activities under the two outcomes of R1 mentioned above as well as Result Area 4 (R4). The objective of R4 is for African countries to have improved knowledge of risks through the compilation of historical disaster related data to inform the assessment and modelling of future risks.

The World Bank(WB) GFDRR implements Result Area 2 (R2) of the Programme, which aims to build the capacity of African RECs on DRR coordination, planning and policy development in order for them to better support their respective member states and regional and sub-regional programmes. R2 targets four RECs, namely Economic Community for Central African States (ECCAS), Economic Community for West African States (ECOWAS) the Intergovernmental Authority for Development (IGAD) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC). Through the Africa Disaster Risk Financing (ADRF) Initiative, the GFDRR provides technical support and capacity building on disaster risk financing in selected countries. This is Result Area 5 (R5) of the Programme. The African Development Bank (AfDB) implements Result Area 3 (R3), which is aimed at building core capacities of the specialised National and Regional Climate Centres (RCCs).