Outcomes from the Nansen Initiative Horn of Africa Civil Society Meeting

1. Outcomes from the Nansen Initiative Horn of Africa Civil Society Meeting Sylvia Atugonza Riamiriam Civil Society Network- Karamoja

2. Overview of Civil Society Meeting • Overall purpose: • To develop a better understanding of the displacement dynamics linked to natural hazards in the region, • identify key protection concerns and • assess the relevance of existing legal frameworks to address these challenges • 50 participants from Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Tanzania and Uganda to discuss the issue of cross-border displacement within the context of disasters in the Greater Horn of Africa Region (PanAfric Hotel, Nairobi)

3. Key Outcomes • Importance of helping people stay in their homes through resilience building activities, investing in livelihoods, and addressing human mobility concerns within disaster risk management activities.

4. Key Outcomes (cont.) • the need to help people adapt to environmental stress by • facilitating the traditional movement of pastoralists • managing conflict that might erupt over scarce natural resources • fully implementing free movement of persons mechanism so that families and individuals can access livelihood opportunities.

5. Key Outcomes (Cont.) • People who are displaced across international borders in the context of disasters need to be able to access protection and assistance • advocated for using the AU Refugee Convention in a flexible way • emphasized the importance of fully implementing existing legal frameworks • the African Union Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa (Kampala Convention) and the Great Lakes Protocol on the Protection and Assistance to Internally Displaced

6. Key Outcomes (Cont.) • Importance of providing assistance to communities that host displaced persons, and investing in their own resilience to natural hazards to reduce risks and so that they can receive displaced persons

7. Thank you