East Africa to boost risk governance

KAMPALA, 26 June 2015 – Like much of the continent, East Africa is frequently exposed to natural threats such as floods, droughts and landslides, as well as epidemics and man-made hazards, of all which affect livelihoods and development across the region.

Efforts to reduce their impact have gained a new impetus, however, thanks to a new initiative spurred by parliamentarians from Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, the United Republic of Tanzania and Uganda. Keenly aware that such hazards straddle their borders, the five partners have set up a new mechanism to look at how to boost governance to reduce the risk of disasters and reinforce the capacity of populations to build sustainable livelihoods.

The East African Disaster Risk Reduction Parliamentarian Platform was established at a meeting last week organised by the Government of Uganda with the support of the World Bank and in collaboration with the Uganda Parliamentarian Forum for Disaster Risk Reduction.

Participants at the event underlined the urgent need to align existing national and regional structures with the new 15-year global blueprint, the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, which was adopted by the international community in March. Improving risk governance is one of the four priorities of the Sendai Framework, alongside understanding disaster risk, investing in resilience and enhancing preparedness for effective response, recovery, rehabilitation and reconstruction.

The newly-established platform’s participants elected Ugandan Member of Parliament, Hon. Alex Bakunda Byarugaba, as chairperson. He is already among UNISDR’s Disaster Risk Reduction Champions, an honorary title awarded to individuals who deploy their political influence to lobby for risk-sensitive policies in their cities and countries, as well as globally.

Speaking with UNISDR, he explained how parliamentarians can make a difference in the region.

Q: How best can parliamentarians push the disaster risk reduction agenda?

A: As parliamentarians, we have fundamental roles, unique power and positions to develop, introduce, pass new policies, legislation and amend the existing laws on disaster risk reduction. We scrutinise and do budget allocations for all sectors, including DRR. We influence governments and heads of states to put in place strong and resilient DRR policies. As legislators, we are mandated to play an oversight and monitoring role to ensure transparency and accountability in the use of public funds.

We are good lobbyists. We lobby governments, non-governmental organizations and international communities to fund DRR programmes.

Disasters often occur in rural, remote areas and mostly affect the poor because of poverty and ignorance. Our people have continued to destroy the environment, which has made us prone to disasters like flooding, landslides and drought. At the end of the day, children, women and people with disabilities tend to be the most vulnerable and affected.

Governments have not done much in public sensitisation and education on disasters and their impacts. There is a need to increase community awareness to avoid the loss of lives and poverty in the future. We should ensure the decentralisation of DRR programmes to the lower levels in order to build resilience and capacity.

Q: How can countries learn best practices from their neighbours via parliamentary platforms?

A: As legislators from the East African region, we have made a lot of commitment to push legislation on DRR issues in our respective parliaments. Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda have DRR policies [at various stages of legislation]. We are helping Burundi and Tanzania to develop their policies on DRR.

We have also pushed our agenda to the East African Legislative Assembly for the enactment of the regional DRR policy and law. There is already a regional DRR bill tabled before the August House. It’s now on its second reading. We hope once enacted and passed, the whole region will embrace, enact and implement it.

We have an understanding to hold rotational meetings and visits among the legislators from the five partner states. We shall be visiting each partner state to learn the best practices on disaster risk reduction. We should have done this yesterday, but it’s not too late.