What: Addressing Fragility, Forced Displacement, and Climate Resilience
Who: African Development Bank, Southern Africa Development Community (SADC), United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR)
When: 26-27 October 2023, 08:00 - 17:00 Southern Africa Time (GMT +2)
Where: Pretoria, South Africa
The African Development Bank, in partnership with the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), will hold the first joint discussion on Fragility, Forced Displacement, and Climate Resilience in Southern Africa.
The technical meeting, which will take place on 26 and 27 October 2023 in Pretoria, South Africa, is preparatory for an anticipated Ministerial strategic forum on Forced Displacement, Fragility Mitigation and Climate Resilience.
The overall objective of the meetings is to foster an agreement on opportunities and mechanisms for SADC-led regional cooperation to strengthen the inclusion of refugees and other forcibly displaced and stateless persons in national development plans and services, including through mainstreaming fragility mitigation, disaster, and climate change responses and adaptation for resilience.
As of July 2023, 8.5 million individuals in Africa have been forcibly displaced. This comprises about 6.8 million displaced persons (IDPs), 1.2 million refugees and asylum seekers, and 500,000 IDPs and refugees who have recently returned home, according to UNHCR data.
These individuals have fled conflict, persecution and environmental threats only to find themselves in host countries that are also grappling with unique developmental challenges.
Southern Africa faces a range of vulnerabilities, including instability, socio-economic issues, conflicts and the increasing impact of climate change. Nine countries in this region are among the least developed countries, with some undergoing transitions to become middle-income economies.
Through promoting collaboration among regions and tackling the issues confronting displaced populations, our aim is to establish an inclusive and resilient path towards development for Africa.
In this regard, the technical meeting will adopt a report outlining the key challenges and opportunities for scaling up national and regional responses, approaches and programmes across the Forced Displacement-Fragility Mitigation-Climate Resilience Nexus with recommendations for consideration by the Ministers.
The focus of actions will be to adopt preventive, innovative approaches underpinned by stronger partnerships, coordination and co-financing, including synergies with the private sector to unlock more resources to deepen and accelerate interventions within countries and across the region.
Click Here For Information about the African Development Bank Group's Strategy for Addressing Fragility and Building Resilience In Africa (2022-2026).
For more information, contact: Erick Mariga, Regional Fragility and Resilience Coordinator (Transition States Coordination Office), African Development Bank | [email protected]
