LAC Region Steps Up Drought Preparedness as Studies Enumerate Costs of Inaction.
Separately, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the Global Water Partnership (GWP) released a study underscoring the need for more strategic and comprehensive drought response measures to strengthen resilience in vulnerable communities.
The World Food Programme (WFP), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), in collaboration with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the Organization of American States (OAS), jointly produced the study.
It builds on the 2015 exploratory study titled, ‘Hunger Without Borders,’ which examined the links between migration, violence and food security.
The report underscores the need to invest in long-term programmes to discourage people in the Dry Corridor from emigrating, and to reduce the risks for emigrants and the families left behind.
The LAC conference was the latest in a series of regional and international initiatives that have taken place since the High-level Meeting on National Drought Policy (HMNDP) in Geneva, Switzerland, in 2013.
In August 2016, the first African Drought Conference was held in Windhoek, Namibia, and adopted the strategic framework on Drought Resilient and Prepared Africa (DRAPA), guided by the six principles of: drought policy and governance for drought risk management; drought monitoring and early warning; drought vulnerability and impact assessment; drought mitigation, preparedness, and response; knowledge management and drought awareness; and reducing the underlying factors of drought risk.
A paper published by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the Global Water Partnership (GWP) reviews available literature on the benefits of action and costs of inaction of drought mitigation and preparedness.
The study highlights the need for mutually compatible methodologies as a means of comprehensively assessing drought costs and impacts, and calls for building a pool of case studies to support a more rigorous understanding of drought costs, impact pathways, vulnerabilities, costs and the benefits of various crisis and risk management approaches.
[UNCCD Press Release] [LAC Drought Conference Programme] [UN News Centre Press Release on drought impacts in the dry corridor] [Food Security and Emigration: Why people flee and the impact on family members left behind in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras] [Benefits of action and costs of inaction: Drought Mitigation and preparedness – a literature review]