Ethiopia: IGAD High-Level Call to Action on El Niño Preparedness, Anticipatory Action and Resilience
Countries: Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia Source: Intergovernmental Authority on Development Please refer to the attached file. Adopted at the IGAD Regional High-Level Forum on El Niño Preparedness for the Horn of Africa Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 17 September 2026 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- We, the Ministers, Commissioners and Heads of Delegation of the Member States of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on 17 September 2026 at the IGAD Regional High-Level Forum on El Niño Preparedness for the Horn of Africa, Noting with concern that El Niño conditions have developed and are expected to strengthen through the remainder of 2026, and that the regional climate outlook issued by the IGAD Climate Prediction and Applications Centre (ICPAC) and the National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs) of the region indicates an increased likelihood of wetter-than normal conditions over much of the equatorial and southern parts of the region during the October to December (OND) 2026 season, with the highest probabilities over southern Ethiopia, central and southern Somalia and north-eastern Kenya; Recalling the severe impacts of past El Niño episodes, including the floods of 1997–98 and of 2023, the latter of which claimed lives and displaced people across Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia, and noting that damage to critical infrastructure in these episodes impeded access and rescue, disrupted essential services and prolonged recovery; Concerned that many communities face a rapid transition from prolonged dry conditions to heavy rains which, while replenishing water and pasture, heighten the risk of flash and riverine floods, landslides, displacement, outbreaks of human and transboundary animal diseases (TADs), concentration of livestock around water and grazing resources, rangeland degradation and the disruption of established pastoral mobility routes; Noting the evidence that every US$1 invested in anticipatory action can save up to US$7 in avoided losses, Mindful that climate hazards compound existing conflict, displacement and economic pressures in the region, including disruptions to maritime trade and supply routes through the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, that they can intensify competition over shared natural resources, and that they arrive at a time of severe constraints on humanitarian financing; Acknowledging rangelands and shared river basins as transboundary assets that sustain pastoralism, food security, biodiversity and borderland economies, and whose shared management is essential to peaceful coexistence; Guided by the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030, in particular its Priority 4 on enhancing disaster preparedness for effective response and its global target (g) on multi-hazard early warning systems and disaster risk information; Articles 7 and 8 of the Paris Agreement, which identify early warning systems, emergency preparedness and risk insurance among the areas for cooperation; the United Arab Emirates Framework for Global Climate Resilience, which sets the target that “by 2027 all Parties have established multi-hazard early warning systems”; the Early Warnings for All initiative of the United Nations SecretaryGeneral; and targets 1.5 and 13.1 of the Sustainable Development Goals; Recalling Agenda 2063: The Africa We Want and its goal of environmentally sustainable and climate resilient economies and communities; the Programme of Action for the Implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction in Africa; the African Union Climate Change and Resilient Development Strategy and Action Plan (2022–2032); the Africa MultiHazard Early Warning and Early Action System (AMHEWAS) Programme; the Kampala Ministerial Declaration on Migration, Environment and Climate Change and its continental expansion in 2023; and the African Union Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa (Kampala Convention), under Article 4(2) of which States Parties “shall devise early warning systems” in areas of potential displacement; Welcoming the Addis Ababa Call to Action on Early Warnings in Africa, adopted at the Africa Early Warnings Forum held in Addis Ababa from 2 to 4 September 2026; Affirming that each State bears the primary responsibility to prevent and reduce disaster risk, as recognised in the Sendai Framework, and that international cooperation, as envisaged in its global target (f), serves “to complement their national actions”; Taking note of the findings of the technical segment of this Forum, held on 15 and 16 September 2026, and of the Regional Preparedness and Early Action Technical Annex, which accompanies this Call to Action and sets out country and regional priority actions, responsibilities and timelines; Recognising that the window for action before the onset of the OND rains is now a matter of weeks, and that effective preparedness requires timely climate information, pre-agreed anticipatory action, adequate and predictable financing, resilient systems and strong cross border cooperation; Hereby issue the following Call to Action: A. OUR COMMITMENTS AS IGAD MEMBER STATES We commit to: Activate plans before the rains. Review, update and activate national and subnational contingency plans and emergency coordination structures before the onset of the OND season, and implement the country priority actions, responsibilities and timelines set out in the Technical Annex, giving priority to the highest-risk areas, with clear arrangements for evacuation, shelter, humanitarian access and the protection of vulnerable and displaced people, consistent with our respective national, regional and international obligations. Pre-position and protect. Pre-position food, health, water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), veterinary and agricultural supplies in at-risk areas, and protect critical infrastructure and essential services, including roads, bridges, flood defenses, schools, health facilities and water systems. Prepare health systems for flood-related outbreaks. Strengthen surveillance, early detection and response capacity for water-borne and vector-borne diseases, including cholera, malaria and Rift Valley fever, in line with the International Health Regulations (2005) and through a One Health approach that links human and animal health services. Protect agriculture, livestock and food systems. Translate forecasts into timely advisories on planting and harvesting, protect seed and food stocks and productive land, vaccinate livestock ahead of the rains, manage grazing pressure and support early and orderly livestock movement where necessary. Make financing move on triggers. Define or update anticipatory action triggers and pre-agreed actions, and use contingency budget lines, shock-responsive social protection, disaster risk insurance at national and local levels, and other disaster risk financing instruments to release resources as soon as agreed thresholds are reached. Invest before disasters occur. Progressively increase, within national budgetary processes, domestic allocations for disaster preparedness, early warning, anticipatory action and resilience, recognising, as the annexed scenarios illustrate, that each dollar invested before a disaster can avert several dollars in recovery costs. Share information across borders. Share forecasts, river flow and flood warnings, and human and animal disease alerts in a timely manner with neighbouring Member States, particularly for shared river basins, pastoral corridors and other transboundary risk areas, and draw on the disaster-related provisions of the Protocol on Free Movement of Persons in the IGAD Region and on the IGAD Protocol on Transhumance to keep cross-border movement safe, orderly and dignified. Reach the last mile. Ensure that warnings reach at-risk communities in time, in local languages and accessible formats, with clear guidance on what to do, and that communities, pastoralists, farmers, fisherfolk, women, youth, persons with disabilities, local authorities and traditional institutions are engaged in risk assessment, preparedness planning and early action. Build longer-term resilience. Integrate climate and disaster risk into national development plans, public investment programmes and sectoral policies, including investment in resilient infrastructure, climate-smart agriculture, sustainable land and rangeland management, infrastructure to capture and store wet-season water for water, energy and food security, and durable solutions for displacement-affected populations. Close the early warning gap by 2027. Accelerate national implementation of the Addis Ababa Call to Action on Early Warnings in Africa, in pursuit of the Early Warnings for All goal of universal coverage by the end of 2027 and the corresponding target of the UAE Framework for Global Climate Resilience. B. CALL TO ACTION FOR THE IGAD SECRETARIAT AND ITS SPECIALISED INSTITUTIONS We call upon the IGAD Secretariat, ICPAC and other IGAD specialised institutions to: Keep the region informed throughout the season. Provide regular, reliable and actionable updates, including monthly, weekly and flood forecasts, and translate them into impact-based information and early warning to early action protocols that Member States, partners and communities can act upon, including through the IGAD Disaster Operations Centre at ICPAC and its link with the continental AMHEWAS situation room. Coordinate the regional response to transboundary risks. Convene regular coordination among Member States and partners throughout the OND season, building on existing IGAD platforms and national early warning systems and improving their interoperability, and support joint monitoring, surveillance and information sharing on floods, pests and diseases across shared river basins, pastoral corridors and displacement routes. Anticipate transboundary animal disease risks. Through the IGAD Centre for Pastoral Areas and Livestock Development (ICPALD), strengthen integrated early warning to identify areas at heightened risk of TAD outbreaks linked to rainfall, flooding, livestock concentration, wildlife and livestock interaction and cross-border movement, and support harmonised surveillance, vaccination and veterinary certification. Safeguard cross-border mobility and shared rangelands. Support Member States to operationalise the IGAD Protocol on Transhumance, including agreed livestock corridors, joint management of shared pasture and water, protection of strategic grazing reserves and conflict-sensitive approaches that reduce competition over resources. Scale up anticipatory action and risk financing. Develop common regional approaches and tools, document and share good practice, and build bankable crossborder resilience project pipelines to mobilise resources for preparedness, early action and resilience. Track, measure and report. Monitor implementation of this Call to Action and its Technical Annex; with Member States and partners, refine the annexed scenarios into a regional assessment of the costs incurred and the losses averted; report on both to the IGAD Council of Ministers; and convene a regional post-season review in the first quarter of 2027 to capture lessons from the OND 2026 season. C. CALL TO ACTION FOR DEVELOPMENT AND HUMANITARIAN PARTNERS We invite development and humanitarian partners to join us in: Aligning behind national and regional priorities. Anchoring technical and operational support in Member State plans and the IGAD regional preparedness and resilience agenda, reducing fragmentation and duplication, and working with accredited multilateral delivery partners to design and implement large-scale, multi-country adaptation programmes. Acting before the peak. Scaling up early warning to early action in the weeks ahead, including anticipatory cash transfers, protection of crops, water sources and productive assets, strategic livestock vaccination and health campaigns, fodder preparedness and early management of grazing pressure. Programming across borders. Supporting cross-border and regional programming where risks, populations, ecosystems and markets transcend national boundaries, including humanitarian logistics, regional pre-positioning and access arrangements that account for disrupted supply routes. D. PARTNERSHIP WITH DONORS, FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS AND RESOURCE PARTNERS Having set out our own commitments, and in a spirit of shared responsibility, we invite bilateral and multilateral donors, international financial institutions, climate funds, development banks and the private sector to join us in: Investing early, where it counts most. Providing predictable, timely and flexible financing for preparedness and anticipatory action ahead of the OND peak, where, as the annexed scenarios show, each contribution made before the rains averts several times its value in recovery costs, consistent with the case for scaling up investment in disaster risk reduction and pre-arranged financing affirmed in the Compromiso de Sevilla, adopted at the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development in 2025. Pre-arranging finance. Expanding pre-arranged risk financing mechanisms, including risk insurance at national and local levels, that release resources rapidly when agreed early warning triggers are reached, and favouring coherent, nationally owned and regionally coordinated resilience pipelines over fragmented emergency appeals. Keeping existing funding agile. Including crisis modifiers and reallocation flexibility so that governments and partners can move rapidly from forecast to preparedness, from preparedness to anticipatory action, and from response to resilient recovery. E. CALL TO ACTION FOR COMMUNITIES, LOCAL ACTORS AND THE MEDIA We call upon communities, local actors and the media across the IGAD region to: Heed and share official warnings. Follow the forecasts and advisories of NMHSs, ICPAC and local authorities; take early protective action to safeguard lives, livestock, crops, water and property; support and protect the most vulnerable; contribute local knowledge to risk-informed decisions; and, in the case of the media, amplify verified early warning information and counter misinformation. OUR SHARED RESOLVE We recognise that climate and disaster risks do not respect national borders, and that no single country or institution can manage them alone. We commit to a whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach that brings together governments, IGAD, the United Nations system, development and humanitarian partners, donors, civil society, the private sector, the media and communities. We reaffirm that early warning without early action is insufficient; that early action without predictable financing cannot be sustained; and that emergency response alone cannot build resilience. We resolve to turn this Call into concrete, financed and measurable action, with clear responsibilities and timelines, building on existing national and local preparedness efforts, to account openly for what we deliver, and to review our progress together at the close of the season. Adopted in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on 17th September 2026.
ReliefWeb•Intergovernmental Authority on Development21 Sept
