Event Summary
Session Leads
- Doekle Wielinga, World Bank
- Marc Neilson, World Bank
Description
More than 20 million people in Africa are being directly affected by some form of drought at this very moment. Conditions remain stressed in the Horn of Africa following the 2011 drought and the Sahel Region of West Africa is currently experiencing the onset of a wide-spread drought crisis. In other regions, climate change is aggravating localized drought conditions outside of normal seasonal cycles. Vulnerable and at-risk populations are the most affected with drought often resulting in large migrations and displacement.
Fortunately, there have been major innovations in hydro-meteorological forecasting and disaster risk management which has helped certain communities implement better drought response and resilience mechanisms.