Addis Ababa, 18 April (TDI): The Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations and Director-General of the African Risk Capacity Group (ARC), Ibrahima Cheikh Diong paid an official visit to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia from the 12th to 15th of April.
During the visit, Ibrahima Cheikh Diong met with stakeholders from Canadian Embassy for Ethiopia, the Delegation of the EU to the African Union, the African Union, and the United Nations.
AN OVERVIEW OF ARC
African Risk Capacity Group (ARC) is a specialized agency of the African Union established in 2012. The headquarters of ARC is located in South Africa. ARC focuses on helping African governments with improving their capacity to respond to extreme weather events and natural disasters.
Specifically speaking, ARC’s mission is to create pan-African climate response systems by using modern financial mechanisms. Risk pooling and risk transfer are two examples of such financial mechanisms. With the support from ARC, African countries will be able to meet the needs of people vulnerable to natural disasters.
To achieve this practical mission, the ARC group founded ARC Insurance Company Limited (ARC Ltd) in 2014. The company is a hybrid mutual insurer and a commercial affiliate of the ARC Group. Thus, the company can offer complementary risk pooling and risk transfer services to African countries and relevant entities.
ARC DIRECTOR GENERAL’S MEETINGS WITH WESTERN PARTNERS
Ibrahima Cheikh Diong, the Director-General of the African Risk Capacity Group (ARC), met with various stakeholders and partners in Ethiopia.
On April 12, as the first stop of the visit, Ibrahima Cheikh Diong met with Ms. Nalan Yuksel and Ms. Khadija Jarik from the Pan-African and Regional Development of the Canadian Embassy for Ethiopia. ARC-Canadian partnership started in 2012. Since then, ARC has closely worked with the Canadian government. The meeting on April 12 offered both sides a chance to update their future cooperation plan.
On the same day, a very productive meeting was held between ARC and the Delegation of the European Union (EU) to the African Union. The EU has contributed significantly to the ARC group through financial and technical support. During this meeting, the ARC representatives briefed the EU on ARC’s new strategic directions. Therefore, ARC and EU can coordinate with each other for deeper collaboration.
ARC STRENGTHENS COOPERATION WITH AU
After meetings with western partners, on April 13, Ibrahima Cheikh Diong paid a courtesy call to the Department of Political Affairs, Peace, and Security of the African Union. Ibrahima Cheikh Diong met with Bankole Adeoye, African Union Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace, and Security.
During the meeting, ARC and the AU Commission declared that they are fully committed to protecting the lives and livelihoods of vulnerable communities at times of political crisis and weather-related disasters. The discussion will expand when Bankole Adeoye visits the headquarters of the ARC in Johannesburg in May this year.
After the meeting, Bankole Adeoye said, he looks forward to a strong collaboration with ARC to build a better Africa together.
ARC-UN COOPERATION MOVES FORWARD
Furthermore, ARC does not only look for collaboration with regional organizations but also global organizations. On the last day of the official visit, Ibrahima Cheikh Diong met with Hanna Tetteh, Special Envoy of the Secretary-General of the United Nations UN-SG for the Horn of Africa, and Vera Songwe, UN-Under Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of the UN Economic Commission for Africa(ECA) respectively.
Initially, the ARC team listened to Hanna Tetteh for insights on the policy, and political dynamics of the Horn of Africa. Accordingly, Hanna Tetteh also pointed out the impacts on the region’s disaster risk management and financing. Afterward, the bilateral communication focused on promoting ARC’s relevance to the Horn of Africa through evidence-based advocacy and product offering.
Last but not least, comes the meeting with Vera Songwe from ECA. Both sides reiterated that they would like to see the MoU between the two bodies produce tangible results for the member states and vulnerable communities affected by climate-related disasters.
The Above series of meetings reflect ARC’s diversified partnerships, and how does ARC work with different partners. The outcome of this official visit will encourage ARC to work with its partners to achieve the mission of the ARC group in the future.
