As World Responds to Crisis in Horn of Africa — Showing Few Signs

of Abating — Next One Must Be Averted, Says Secretary-General

 

Following is the text of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s message to the Emergency Ministerial Meeting on the Horn of Africa, as delivered by Gwi-Yeop Son, Director of Corporate Programmes Division, Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, in Rome, 18 August:

Thank you for coming together for this Emergency Ministerial Meeting on the Horn of Africa.  The crisis across the region continues to take a heavy toll on millions of people — especially women and children — and the situation shows little sign of abating.

As we act to respond to the current crisis, we must also work to avert the next.  Responses to the unfolding food crisis — and the famine — must not only ensure that people are fed today, but also encourage sustainable livelihoods and food and nutrition security for tomorrow.  Short-term relief must be linked to building long-term sustainability particularly for highly vulnerable pastoralist communities.

This twin-track approach calls for an agricultural transformation that improves the resilience of rural livelihoods and minimizes the scale of any future crisis.  It requires climate-smart crop production, livestock rearing, fish farming and forest maintenance practices that enable all people to have year-round access to the nutritious food they need.

As we meet, the international community immediately needs about $1.16 billion to support national responses to the crisis.  We are working to ensure that the United Nations system — along with development partners — contributes to both the urgently needed humanitarian response, as well as longer-term efforts being put in place in affected countries by the people, Governments, subregional bodies and the African Union.

Aligning and coordinating external support to local, national and regional plans is crucial.  I will do all I can to ensure that our High-Level Task Force on Global Food Security and other coordination mechanisms — including United Nations country teams — work to advance these goals.  We must communicate clearly, focus on ways to benefit communities that are most at risk, base our statements on the best available evidence, assess the impact of our actions and ensure accountability.

The outcomes of today’s meeting will be taken up by the High-Level Task Force which will focus on ways to support the African Union and subregional organizations, including the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, to combine immediate and longer-term responses. Thank you once again for your commitment.

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For information media • not an official record