We proudly welcomed Dr. Mothae Anthony Maruping, the new Chairperson of the ARC Group Board, to our offices in Johannesburg, South Africa. Dr Maruping, who replaced Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, renewed his firm commitment to the ARC mandate and mission, and to supporting our advocacy efforts to further build a strong Disaster Risk Management and Financing culture across Africa. 

The visit was also a great opportunity to discuss with the Chairperson about our progress to date and ambition and seek his guidance and council.  

Mr Ibrahima Cheikh Diong, UN-ASG / DG, African Risk Capacity (ARC) Group; and Mr. Denys Denya Executive VP, Finance, Administration and Banking Services, AFREXIMBank exchanging copies of the MOU last Thursday during the InterAfrican Trade Fair at the Durban International Conference Centre

Very productive conversation with Dr Heike Henn, Director for Climate Policy, Energy, Urban Development and Environment and Commissioner for climate policy and climate financing at the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) on scaling up Disaster Risk Management and Financing coverage for Africa. The premium and technical support by the German Governmlent helps our countries in early response to disaster events.

Very frank and insightful conversations today at CoP26 with IOM, UNHCR and AFD. "Migration and Displacement in Era of Climate Emergency: Political and Operational Challenges and Strategies at Global Level and in W/A and Sahel" session. Early action is key to preventing migration /displacement of populations.

Very focused meeting with Ibrahima Thiaw, Executive Secretary UNCCD, on advancing key deliverables of our MoU. We will jointly work to promote a culture of anticipatory risk response, interoperability of data, and mobilize resources for sustainable gender-responsive Disaster Risk Reduction and adaptation in Africa.

"There’s no silver bullet to Disaster Risk Management and Financing and no single agency can provide all the solutions. A multi-donor funding approach like AfDB's ADRIFI, ensures Availability, Accessibility and Affordability of risk financing for a 3-level response: mitigation, resilience and adaptation." (Ibrahima Cheikh Diong, UN ASG and ARC Group DG)

Watch ARC Group DG full remarks here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=taGpTxmC4wk

Today, at CoP26, we presented Africa’s best practice for mitigating climate crisis at the Anticipatory Action Side Event by UN OCHA and UNDRR. Smart partnerships among agencies is key to predictable funding, knowledge, and building capacities to reduce the human impact of disasters.