WFP and IFRC join forces to face anticipated climate shocks in the Middle East and North Africa

(This story is a joint IFRC-WFP press release issued today in Dubai. It has been edited slightly here mainly for length.)

The World Food Programme and the IFRC today signed a regional memorandum of understanding to support joint advocacy, capacity development, and resource mobilization for coordinated national-level anticipatory action in response to climate shocks in the Middle East and North Africa.

The signing took place at the conclusion of an event, Road to COP27: Anticipatory Action Milestones and the Way Forward in MENA, hosted by Dubai’s International Humanitarian City and attended by high-level speakers and representatives from the UAE government, its Ministry of Climate Change and Environment, WFP, IFRC, the Climate Centre and National Societies, and humanitarian organizations including UNDRR, FAO, the Start Network, and REAP.

Anticipatory action is an effective way of mitigating predictable climate risks, which are expected to become more frequent and intense because of climate change and conflict in the MENA region.

‘Let us not forget that COP27 goals and vision are mitigation, adaptation, finance, and collaboration’

“In a region where climate hazards such as droughts, floods, and heatwaves are increasing humanitarian needs, anticipatory action aims to reduce or mitigate the impact of these hazards on the most vulnerable people,” said Mageed Yahia, WFP representative on the Gulf Cooperation Council.

“We are grateful for the strong representation from the UAE in this event today, an important ally in the quest to make the humanitarian system as anticipatory as possible.”

Over the last few years, WFP and IFRC have been making progress in setting the scene for an anticipatory action approach in the MENA region.

“Let us not forget that COP27 goals and vision are mitigation, adaptation, finance, and collaboration,” said IFRC MENA Deputy Regional Director, Rania Ahmad.

She continued: “This collaboration between IFRC and WFP will allow for increased sharing of experiences and financing and make the most vulnerable populations better prepared and enhance their resilience.”

During the event, WFP and the UK Overseas Development Institute launched a report, Anticipatory Action in the MENA Region: State of Play and Accelerating Action, supported by the Swedish government, which highlights the state of anticipatory action in the region, and its potential to reduce the impacts of disasters.

Advocacy

Regional coordination and collaboration across all stakeholders will be necessary to complement efforts to scale up the anticipatory action agenda in the region with tangible results.

To support this, the IFRC and WFP are establishing the “MENA anticipatory action regional community of practice” as a space for technical and advocacy coordination, collaboration, learning exchange, and capacity strengthening.

The initiative will bring together UN agencies, the Red Cross Red Crescent Movement, as well as international organizations, governments, NGOs, the public and private sector, and academia, to work together to effectively scale up anticipatory action.

Wildfires swept across parts of northern Morocco last month, alongside other parts of North Africa and southern Europe. The IFRC reported that hundreds of people were injured and many families had to be evacuated in Morocco, where the Red Crescent (photo), like many other societies, was in “the front line rescuing and evacuating people, distributing food and helping the injured,” it added. Wildfires are among the impacts expected to worsen with climate change, now addressed by an agreement on anticipatory action between the IFRC and WFP. (Photo: IFRC MENA via Twitter)