Roundup: UN agencies form resilience strategy to help people in drought-hit NE Uganda

UN agencies in Uganda have formed a resilience strategy to improve the livelihoods of thousands of people in northeastern Uganda, a region that has been battered by adverse effects of climate change.

The Food and Agriculture Organization, United Nations Children's Fund and the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) say they will combine efforts to empower households and communities in the semi-arid region also known as Karamoja.

"They will work to enable the people of Karamoja to recover, reorganize themselves and move forward after experiencing external stresses and disturbances, including droughts or floods," the agencies said in a joint statement on Friday.

The strategy dubbed "Joint Resilience Strategy for Karamoja Region" will focus on areas like diversifying livelihood strategies and intensifying production in order to increase household income and improve food security.

It will also help improve basic social services to strengthen vulnerable households' human capital; establish predictable safety nets; and strengthen disaster risk management support.

According to the regional Resilience Analysis Unit, the main shocks and stresses for Karamoja include erratic and uneven rainfall, livestock disease outbreaks, crop pests and high food prices.

The other stress factors include food insecurity, livestock losses, inadequate access to education and health services and inadequate access to water and sanitation.

"This collaboration will strengthen basic services for children and women that will increase their resilience to shocks and help to keep them alive, healthy, in school and protected," said Aida Girma, UNICEF Country Representative.

She said building household resilience cannot be sustained unless the overall system to deliver the services is strengthened.

Michael Dunford, the acting WFP Country Director said although Karamoja continues to face significant socio-economic challenges, there are opportunities.

"With increased security, reduced poverty levels and a renewed commitment by the government, partners can achieve more through enhanced collaboration," he said.

The Karamoja region has for the last over 40 years depended on humanitarian relief. Apart from the harsh climate change effects that have destroyed crops and livestock, the region also faced armed cattle rustling.

Although government has since curbed the decades of cattle rustling, climate change effects still ravage the region, leaving the population vulnerable.

WFP in its annual report for last year said it implemented six programs aimed at building resilience among households and communities.

The programs included support for more than 143,000 extremely food insecure people, plus targeted nutrition support for 80,000 malnourished young children, pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers during the prolonged lean season.

The Karamoja initiatives also included support for nearly 200,000 moderately food insecure people participating in food-for-assets projects in which they built or improved community infrastructure.

The food aid agency also provided daily school meals to all children attending school throughout the region. Endit