DETERMINED to tackle the problems of climate change, the board of the African Risk Capacity (ARC), a continental financial climatic disaster risk management agency, has announced the appointment of the Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala as the first chair of its governing council.
ARC is a specialised agency of the African Union (AU), which supports African states to mitigate the severe social and economic impact of extreme weather conditions through a structured insurance system.
According to Dr. Richard Wilcox, interim Director-General of the ARC, the agency will help African governments plan better for emergency situations, manage them efficiently, greatly reduce response time and ensure sufficient distribution of resources to disaster areas by deploying innovative technology based on satellite weather surveillance and software run by independent risk professionals.
Reacting to the appointment, Okonjo-Iweala described ARC as a timely and innovative African response to the increasing challenges brought on by extreme weather conditions, which deserves the support of all Africans.
Her words: "Not only can we predict extreme weather conditions with a well-managed risk fund, we are prepared to address them and ensure that the most vulnerable people in our communities receive protection.
"ARC will support the governments of its member state to manage response programmes effectively and ensure that they have resources to meet natural disasters head-on."
She added that ARC is a structured response which will help governments in Africa stop the bad practice of moving resources away from critical areas during periods of emergency.
The key objective of ARC is to ensure that the climate risk the continent is facing is controlled, so, that it does not negatively affect economic growth and social development.
Partners who supported the creation of the body include The Rockefeller Foundation, the UK's Department for International Development, the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA), Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), and the International Fund for Agricultural Development.
Wilcox said: "The launch of the ARC agency harnesses pan-African solidarity in approaching climate risk in a financially efficient way. Welcomed by the G8, last year, ARC is a critical step for African governments, moving from managing crises to managing risks."
Also, C.D Glin, Associate Director at The Rockefeller Foundation's Africa Regional Office said: "ARC represents a great example of our support for programmes that seek to find new ways of meeting the dynamic challenges of a developing continent, and improving outcomes for poor or vulnerable people."
The Guardian