The Africa Risk Capacity (ARC) Group has cemented its relationships with the Malagasy Government and other stakeholders during a visit to Madagascar for the insurance payout ceremony following Tropical Cyclone Freddy. The visit also served to align the ARC Group’s strategic thinking as it strengthens its response capacities to the repeated ravages of climate-induced threats and disease outbreaks.
The mission, led by Ibrahima Cheikh Diong, UN Assistant Secretary General and ARC Group Director General on his first official visit to the country, was a show of global solidarity with the country during this difficult period when it is dealing with the aftermath of yet another disaster event. Discussions with Ministers of Economy and Finance, Agriculture and Livestock, and Education as important stakeholders in the work that we do gave us an understanding of the impact of disasters in their specific areas of interest.
During the visit, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Madagascar, H.E. Christian Ntsay, congratulated the government for its leadership role at ARC and renewed his commitment to work with the ARC instrument across Africa and globally as an important tool in Disaster Risk Management Framework (DRMF). The recent addition of an Outbreaks and Epidemics solution, and the upcoming launch of the Flood Model is in response to the needs of member states. The Prime Minister also updated on their most recent developments, particularly the progress made to diversify the ARC product offering.
Madagascar has been at the mercy of violent weather-induced disasters in perpetuity. Given the growing climate threat, together, they will continue to explore areas where additional support is needed and strengthen capacity-building efforts. Leading up to COP 28, as the promised loss and damages fund is being operationalized, the group will work to drive for simplified procedures to increase access to climate adaptation funding for Africa.
