The UK emergency response in the Horn of Africa

When the rains failed in the Horn of Africa in 2010-11, a chronic situation became a crisis affecting over 12 million people. This report looks at the effectiveness and value for money of the UK’s £200 million emergency response.

Score: Green/Amber
  1. Status: Completed
  2. Published: 14 September 2012
  3. Type: Other
  4. Subject: Humanitarian assistance
  5. Assessment: Green/Amber
  6. Location: Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia
  7. Lead commissioner: Mark Foster

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Review

This report looks at the effectiveness and value for money of the UK’s £200 million emergency response to this crisis. We made three recommendations and awarded a green-amber score.

Findings

This ICAI report found that DFID played a leading role in the humanitarian response, supporting some of the most vulnerable people in Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia. DFID applied pressure to governments and other donors to act and its programmes in the field demonstrated good impact and value for money.

DFID and the humanitarian system as a whole, however, lacked flexibility in responding to the emerging crisis and as such action was delayed. Given the recurring nature of the crises, DFID could have been better prepared for this unfolding crisis and earlier action could have alleviated some of the suffering and loss of livelihoods. Substantive improvements can only be achieved by addressing weaknesses in the entire humanitarian system and engaging national governments before the next crisis occurs.

Recommendations

  1. DFID should work towards a cohesive early-warning system, with triggers for action pre-agreed with other key organisations and governments. It should engage with key organisations on this issue within six months.
  2. DFID should build on existing good practice to develop, within six months, a new model for flexibly addressing recurring crises in the Horn of Africa.
  3. DFID should build on its existing engagement with host governments and key agencies to develop lasting solutions. It should target key areas such as infrastructure development that are needed to address chronic poverty. It should use its expertise and experience to tackle challenging areas such as the sustainability of pastoralism and refugee camps. This should be incorporated into DFID’s plans for 2013-14.

 

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Timeline

Review publication

Published 14 September 2012

Government response

Published 22 May 2013

ICAI follow-up

Published 12 June 2014