UN humanitarian envoy pledges to help drought-stricken pastoralists in Ethiopia

The United Nations Special Humanitarian Envoy for the drought-ravaged Horn of Africa was made an elder of the Kereyu Gada clan today at an unprecedented gathering of pastoralist leaders in Ethiopia's Oromiya Region, which he is visiting as part of a regional tour aimed at spotlighting the urgent need for international assistance to mitigate the effects of drought.

“There are 12 million pastoralists living in the Ethiopia, we have to respect their way of life and improve their conditions, not try to change them as this will cause much bigger problems,” said Kjell Magne Bondevik. “This is a tradition that has survived thousands of years.”

The traditional meeting, held on animal skins under acacia trees, brought together for the first time pastoralist elders from four of Ethiopia's pastoral groups, the Special Envoy, Ethiopia's UN Resident Coordinator and the heads of the UN Country Team.

The elders shared with the visiting delegation the challenges confronting their way of life such as recurrent drought, lack of recognition and appreciation, conflict and restrained trading opportunities.

“Pastoralism needs to be recognised as a way of life that is viable and contributes to the economy. Our livestock is our way of life but we need access to an organised market so we can be sustainable,” said Borena elder Nura Dida. “We hope that this meeting will become a milestone in pastoralist development.”

Pastoralists make up the majority of people affected by successive drought in the Horn of Africa. “This recent drought has been very severe and we have lost a lot of livestock. The response from the international community is not as it was in past years. When our animals die, we die as our lives are tied to them,” Kereyu Council Chief, Gada Boku told Mr Bondevik.

The Special Envoy told the pastoralists, many who had walked three days to attend the gathering, that he would never forget them and would advocate on their behalf to ensure their future. Later in addressing a press conference in the capital, Addis Ababa, he said he had raised the pastoralist issue with the Deputy Prime Minister, Addisu Legesse and was told that the Government was looking at organizing legal markets and developing other programmes to support pastoralists.

In Ethiopia, 1.7 million people are currently receiving food aid assistance due to the humanitarian crisis affecting the country's pastoral and agro-pastoral areas. Ethiopia launched its own Humanitarian Appeal in January requesting $166 million. To date, $59.6 million – just over a third – has been received from the international community.

During his two-day visit, Mr Bondevik also met Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, donors and the African Union's Commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture, Rosebud Kurwijila. Tomorrow he travels to Kenya and then Somalia before ending his mission with a meeting with the League of Arab States in Cairo, with the aim of encouraging its member countries to contribute funds to the critical needs of the Horn of Africa.