Resilience, Research and Innovation Conference in Djibouti, 26-28 October 2015 at Djibouti Palace Kempinski

 

The Ministry of Higher Education and Research of Djibouti in partnership with FAO, IGAD and other UN agencies has organized an International Resilience, Research and Innovation conference which will be held in Djibouti between October 26-28, 2015.  This conference is intended to take stock of the research involvement towards building resilience for the population of arid and semi-arid land (ASAL)/region as well as to analyse and discuss some of the key challenges, innovations and research experiences, with the ultimate view of making resilience a true vector of development. The main objective of this conference is to stimulate a wide debate on the scientific research on adaptation, transformation and development of our societies to change and to highlight the importance of building resilience for ASAL communities in the broad aspect of development. The conference is expected to reinforce knowledge and capacities of institutions and actors to increase resilience to drought disasters; and facilitate knowledge sharing and making provisions for program beneficiaries. The main themes of the conference include; Resilience and Knowledge,   Resilience Analysis and Measurement, Resilience and Development and Resilience and Societies.

 Conference objectives

  • Shareknowledge, the results of research in the continent and in the sub-region, and lessons learned on the resilience and the challenges for a coordinated implementation of relevant and sustainable interventions.
  • Strengthen dialogue and research partnerships between institutions specializing in ASALs and their problems
  • Exchange around best practices from resilience projects that have shown satisfactory results.
  • Establish the theoretical and empirical nexus between resilient communities and development prospects;
  • Identify and discuss best practices and experiences in building resilience in Africa and beyond with a view to learning from them in future efforts;
  • Propose the possible solutions to the identified major problems and challenges that resilience programmes and projects are confronted with;
  • Propose elements of what could constitute conducive environments for the emergence of effective, financially viable and competitive research on resilience;
  • Propose concrete policy recommendations on the enhancement of national and regional capacities to address the challenges of building resilience and ending drought emergencies on the continent.

The Resilient Africa Network (RAN) submitted fifteen abstracts and ten were accepted for oral presentation. These include the following

1)   Roy William Mayega (Resilient Africa Network (RAN), Makerere University School of Public Health): “The state of African resilience: understanding dimensions of vulnerability and adaptation; a report from resilient Africa network (RAN)-RAN Secretariat

2)   Zewdie Birhanu (Horn of Africa Resilience Innovation Lab, Jimma University): “Understanding Resilience Dimensions and Adaptive Strategies to the Impacts of Recurrent Droughts in Borana Zone, Oromia Region, Ethiopia: A Qualitative Study with Grounded Theory Approach” HoA RILab

3)   Jimmy Osuret Makerere (University College of Health Sciences, School of Public health) – Adaptive and underlying factors that influence the community’s ability to manage the impacts of landslides and floods in the Mt Elgon region, Uganda: a qualitative study. EA RILab.

4)   Rugigana Etienne (University of Rwanda) – Rapid Appraisal of Resilience to Floods and Landslides in Musanze, Nyabihu and Rubavu Districts, Northern and Western Provinces, Rwanda. EA RILab.

5)   Richard Tushemereirwe (Makerere University School of Public Health): A Survey to Determine the Most Effective methods for delivering severe weather early Warnings to Fisher men on Lake Victoria. EA RILab.

6)   Patrick Musinguzi (Makerere University): DSSAT and APSIM model simulations in evaluation of maize adaptation practices under different climate change scenarios. EA RILab

7)   Doreen Tuhebwe (Makerere University School of Public Health) : Out puts from a disaster Resilience Leadership trained practitioner: A short term leadership training program resulted in tangible leadership actions in East Africa. EA RILab

8)   Niagia Santuah (School of Medicine and Health Sciences, University for Development Studies, Tamale): Changing the climate of resilience: How communities are coping with the activities of nomadic herdsmen in Ghana and Burkina-Faso. WA RILab

9)   Chingarande-Mutanga (Southern Africa Resilience Innovation Lab) : Resilience factors associated with HIV/AIDS and poverty: The Case of Beitbridge District, Zimbabwe. SA RILab

10)            Makhubele J.C. (University of Limpopo). Resilience in the context of HIV/AIDS and poverty in South Africa: A case of Ga-Dikgale rural community. SA RILab

 

While in Djibouti, The RAN Team will also attend and participate in a side meeting

scheduled October 27, 2015.

 

The main outcomes of this side meeting include:

 

  • Recognize the variety of Regional analyses in use in the region and appreciate the need to harmonize the methodology employed in preparing them; as well as the logic to cultivate the partnership to facilitate and consolidate a functional comprehensive regional analysis system
  • Identify specific areas of collaboration and linkage into the analytical work of the individual IGAD Divisions or specialized agencies (ICPAC, ICPALD, etc.).
  • Agreement on the outline and the structure of the Regional Analysis report.
  • Agreement on the roles and responsibilities of each partner in the subsequent iterations of the Regional Analysis.
  • Recommendations for way forward.