Wednesday 20^th October 2004

2003 Emergency Relief Operations ‘well managed and effective’

The joint evaluation report on the response to the 2003 drought has praised the efforts of the federal Disaster Prevention and Preparedness Commission (DPPC).

Speaking at the launch of the report in Addis Ababa, UN Special Envoy for Humanitarian Crisis in the Horn of Africa Mr Martti Ahtisaari said

“Overall the evaluation found the emergency relief operations well managed and effective due to a high degree of coordination and transparency by the federal DPPC, which led the international community to respond as generously and effectively as it did.”

“1.5 million tonnes of food aid was shipped to Djibouti in 2003 and transported inland by private trucking  to 1,200 distribution centers, far exceeding logistics capacities that were thought to exist.” said Mr. Ahtisaari.

The joint evaluation into the response was conducted by experts from the DPPC, the UN, the donor community and NGOs, who studied the decision-making process and actions taken at all levels. The report, released on the 18^th October, also makes a series of recommendations to help prevent future emergencies.

The Commissioner of the DPPC, Simone Mechalle, who was also present, said

“the commitment and transparency of the Government of Ethiopia as well as the donor support and commitment attributed to the overall success of the response and stressed that this involvement must continue.”

According to the evaluation report, the DPPC had used private transport enterprises to move the relief from the port of Djibouti, and had established over 1,200 distribution centres to provide the relief assistance to the needy. It said that some 46 therapeutic feeding centres were established in the areas seriously affected by the drought to provide relief assistance to the over 20,000 children.

The evaluation report recommended maintaining the strong emergency capabilities of the DPPC and government ministries while the Safety Net Programme is implemented to assist families suffering from chronic food insecurity. The report also called for an assessment into the capacity and maintenance of the country’s trucking fleet.

“Although the logistics response was more than expected, fundamentally it depends on an ageing trucking fleet. This needs to be addressed.” said Simone Mechalle.

The Commissioner also noted the need to maintain a well stocked Emergency Food Security Reserve, which the evaluation team found to be a vital link to rapidly meeting emergency food needs during the crisis.

While the Government has policies addressing the root causes of vulnerability to disasters, the evaluation stressed that measures such as the urgent implementation of programmes to provide access to contraceptives and family planning need to be stepped up, so that population pressures on land can begin to decrease in the long term.

The Evaluation Steering Committee reiterated its commitment to assisting the improvement of existing emergency response mechanisms. 

ENDS