Wallace Ruzvidzo
Herald Reporter
THE Southern African Development Community will today convene a regional Disaster Preparedness and Response Planning Workshop to assess the projected cascading impacts of the forecast 2026/27 El Niño season and identify priority measures to be implemented ahead of its anticipated peak.
The workshop, which runs until Friday, comes as the region strengthens its preparedness for increasingly complex climate-related risks that could place additional pressure on public services, food security, and community livelihoods.
In a press release yesterday, SADC stated that the regional bloc remains committed to strengthening disaster preparedness, enhancing anticipatory action, and improving coordination in responding to emerging humanitarian risks across the region.
“A key focus will be to secure Member States’ validation and implementation guidance on priority regional preparedness instruments, particularly the SADC Regional Multi-Hazard Anticipatory Action Framework and harmonised drought triggers.
“These instruments are intended to strengthen early action, improve coordination and support timely interventions to mitigate the impacts of disasters before they escalate into humanitarian crises,” the regional bloc noted.
The workshop will also review progress in disaster preparedness since the 2024 regional session, while helping shape future regional preparedness priorities and informing the European Commission’s Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (DG ECHO) programming and Humanitarian Implementation Plan for the SADC region.
“The workshop comes at a critical time as Southern Africa prepares for increasingly complex climate-related risks that can place additional pressure on public services, food security and community livelihoods.
“Its significance lies in fostering a shared regional approach to disaster risk management, ensuring that lessons from previous emergencies inform future planning and that Member States are better positioned to act proactively,” SADC added.
Meanwhile, SADC Deputy Executive Secretary for Corporate Affairs, Dr Judith Kateera, has called for increased investment in long-term resilience and strengthened disaster financing mechanisms to minimise losses.
Dr Kateera made the remarks at the International Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction and Resilience in Africa, held in Maputo, Mozambique.
