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Could a 'Drought Global Fund' Encourage Faster Response to Climate Change Disasters?

Drought alarm bells began to ring in Somalia in early November 2016.

By late November, the Somalia NGO Consortium published a clear statement about what they saw happening in the African country — namely that Somalia went through a strikingly similar situation in 2011, when “two failed rain seasons, overlapping shocks, restricted action and a late response resulted in large-scale human catastrophe.”

The indicators now — such as poor and erratic rain since late September, low rate of water availability, high rate of livestock loss and dependence on uncovered water sources — “are the same indicators that we had in 2010” and present a similarly crucial opportunity to respond early before conditions reach famine levels, InterAction Director of Humanitarian Practice Julien Schopp told Devex.

But donors, much like during those early warning stages six years ago, still aren’t acting decisively enough on current reports, Schopp said. Now, experts tell Devex, it is either time to bolster drought indicators and better define action tied to early warning systems, or rethink aid frameworks altogether.

AU UN IST Photo / Tobin Jones

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