Nairobi, 29
June, 2010, Nairobi - Urgent action is needed
to help pastoralists cope with the rising
impacts of climate change including strategies
by governments to facilitate safe passage
across borders in the Horn and East Africa
region.
This is among the key
recommendations of a new report launched
today by the United Nations (UN) and partners,
members of the Security in Mobility initiative.
The key findings of
the assessment reveal that:
Climate Change is resulting
in unpredictable & extreme weather patterns
and influencing mobility patterns amongst
Pastoralist communities.
Insecurity in Pastoralists
border regions has increased
Some local governments
facilitate cross-border mobility especially
during drought, others need to consider
similar strategies
Mobility (movement)
is usually associated with conflict and
this risk needs to be recognized and managed
down
Pastoralists are frustrated
with current humanitarian aid policies and
want sustainable and transformational solutions
Security in Mobility
conducted consultative assessments with
local communities and their leaders in Kenya's
cross border regions between January 2009
and June 2010 in order to gather first hand
knowledge on how various economic, social
and environmental factors including climate
change are impacting on pastoralist lives.
The regions visited
include the Maasai, Karamoja and Somali
clusters which border Tanzania, Uganda &
Sudan, and Somalia & Ethiopia respectively.
The initiative also advocates for an integrated
approach to respond to humanitarian and
development needs in pastoral communities.
Key Findings
The effects of climate
change and its impact on pastoral communities
are now more conspicuous than ever with
evidence pointing to increasing levels of
migration and conflict over often scarce
resources.
Vulnerability, a lack
of preparedness and appropriate, timely
and relevant responses to natural disasters
has left millions in need of humanitarian
assistance. An 80 year old Pastoralist Bote
Bora in Isiolo Kenya summed it up: "In
my 80 years living as a pastoralist it has
never been like this. The rainfall pattern
has been unpredictable and there is a migration
of pastoralists from this community to the
urban centres of Nairobi, Uganda and others.
The few animals we have that have survived
the drought are plagued by new diseases
that we do not know about. Our livestock
is dying and we do not know why. We are
even afraid to eat some of the livestock
as we fear the diseases might be transferred
to humans."
In 2009, close to ten
million people in the region (including
three million pastoralists) were at risk
of starvation due to drought. The Office
for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
(UN-OCHA) Head of Office in Kenya, Jeanine
Cooper notes that pastoralists and their
livelihoods are under threat due to a combination
of factors among them, environmental degradation,
resource-based conflicts, changing land
tenures, poor governance and restrictive
cross-border policies.
Cross-Border issues
Mark Bowden, the United
Nations Humanitarian Coordinator for Somalia,
said "it is important to note that
all of Kenya's border regions from the Karamoja
cluster through Marsabit , Moyale, Mandera
Wajir until Garrissa suffer from instability
coupled with dramatic effects of climate
change. Many pastoralists are no longer
safe during their migration and stay 'foreign
territory' and there is no formal framework
to guarantee their security".
He underlined the need
for pastoralists to cross administrative
and international borders in pursuit of
their livelihoods and emphasized that cross-border
collaboration was essential in responding
to pastoralist issues.
The Deputy Secretary
General of the East African Community (EAC),
Hon. Beatrice Kiraso lauded the joint initiative
launched today for the comparative advantage
each agency in SIM has brought to the agenda.
The agencies' mandates cut across humanitarian
assistance, displacement and forced migration
management, human security research and
environmental protection. Cooperation is
important towards addressing this complex
problem that cuts across various,"
Hon. Kiraso commented.
Call to Action
The UN and its partners
acknowledge that natural hazards alone do
not cause disasters but the combination
of factors ? climate change, inappropriate
policies and lack of basic services and
infrastructure ? turn the hazards into major
emergencies.
Security in Mobility
(SiM) is calling on regional governments
to develop a policy that facilitates safe
movement of pastoralists within their countries
and across borders. The Security in Mobility
Approach for intervention calls for response
to pastoralist issues through a joined-up
approach that that captures provision of
humanitarian assistance; provision of basic
services such as water and sanitation; facilitated
migration and comprehensive security initiatives.
The launch of the key
findings and SiM approach was attended by
more than 100 participants from Kenya and
around the region, among them pastoralist
community leaders, senior government representatives,
members of the diplomatic corps, NGO members
and various UN agency representatives. The
initiative is comprised of four agencies:
United Nations Office for the Coordination
of Humanitarian Affairs (UN-OCHA), United
Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), International
Organization for Migration (IOM) and the
Institute for Security Studies (ISS).
