AfDB, Red Cross partner to build Africa’s economic resilience.

Officials attested that the new dimension would accelerate economic progress and further strengthen their strategic partnership. 

Speaking on the occasion, the AfDB Vice President for Regional Development, Integration and Business Delivery, Marie-Laure Akin-Olugbade, said: “We welcome the ICRC delegation’s visit to the Bank’s headquarters. Together, within the framework of the Bank’s new Ten-Year Strategy and through our MoU, we are committed to leverage our collective strengths”. 

She went on to add: “This includes jointly expanding impactful programs that foster resilience and make a tangible difference in the lives of the most vulnerable affected by fragility, food insecurity and climate change in Africa”.

The ICRC team led by Regional Director for Africa, Patrick Youssef, said: “In times of increasing conflicts, displacements and humanitarian needs in several parts of the African continent, our partnership to find durable solutions in new and protracted crises becomes ever more pertinent”. 

He mentioned that at the ICRC they not only reiterate the criticality of International Humanitarian Law, IHL, are also committed to Sustainable Humanitarian Impact.

Youssef also appreciated the African Development Bank’s strong focus on conflict prevention, addressing the complex and multifaceted drivers of fragility and staying engaged during conflicts to bolster resilience pathways in Africa.

Yero Baldeh, Director, Transition States Coordination Office at the African Development Bank said in alignment with the Bank’s Fragility and Resilience agenda, it shares with ICRC the urgency of advancing innovative, bolder, context-specific and conflict-sensitive interventions with scalable solutions.

“It’s a partnership that we value not only in terms of the neutrality and capacities of ICRC, but also in terms of the presence, access and essential protection - of people and investments - in active conflict situations,” Baldeh said.

Dr Martha Phiri, Director of the Human Capital, Youth and Skills Development Department, and Acting Director of the Gender, Women and Civil Society Department at the African Development Bank, highlighted the value of applying a gender lens across Bank operations and jointly with partners such as ICRC.

She said the Bank’s Gender Strategy made sure that women are not just beneficiaries of small programmes, but are active players in terms of building economic resilience. 

“Women need investments, and the successful partnership between the bank and ICRC is evidenced through the economic empowerment of vulnerable women project in the Sahel region (Niger, Mali, and Chad) that enhanced the resilience of 11.000 people,” she said. 

According to AfDB top officials, the ICRC is one of the Bank’s critical partners and work is ongoing to develop an operational framework agreement to streamline collaboration procedures for co-creation and strengthened operations.

The exchange, they said, highlighted the importance of strategic partnerships to reduce humanitarian funding gaps in the medium to long-term by pursuing a shared preventive and resilience building approach. 

Both organisations also reiterated their efforts to expand collaboration in knowledge/analytics, policy dialogues, increased capacity development and shared learning opportunities, and to boost resource mobilisation and concrete co-financing opportunities.

Speaking on the long standing and instrumental partnership between the two organisations, Millicent Omukaga, representing the office of African Development Bank President Dr Akinwumi A. Adesina, expressed appreciation for the excellent collaboration that has evolved significantly over the past years and continues to expand.

The story was first published in The Guardian Post issue No: 3145 of Friday June 21, 2024