From March 9-10, 2024, the Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC) was honoured to facilitate a Disaster Risk Management Leadership workshop for 30 Senior Federal Government Officials, and Commissioners for Regional Disaster Risk Management and City Administration. Held at Haile Resort in Arba Minch, Ethiopia, the workshop was co-organized by the Ethiopian Disaster Risk Management Commission (EDRMC) in collaboration with the ADPC, and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

The high-level workshop was attended by 16 high-level officials from 14 Sectoral and State Ministers, including the Ministry of Peace, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Water and Energy, Ministry of Irrigation and Low Land, Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Plan and Development, Ministry of Environment, Ministry of Transport, House of Representatives – Standing Committee for Peace, Conflict and Disaster, Ethiopian Public Health Institute, Ethiopian Meteorology Institute, Refugees and Returnees Service, and EDRMC. There were also 12 Regional Disaster Risk Management (DRM) Commissioners from Oromia, Afar, Amhara, Somali, Tigray, SNNPR, Sidama, Benshangul, Gambella, Harari, South-Western Region, and Central Region, and 2 senior officials of City Administrations from Addis Ababa and Diredawa.

The one-and-a-half-day event provided an opportunity for the participants to interact closely with each other to share experiences and discuss appropriate skill sets, toolsets and mindsets which can be used to lead and implement, where appropriate, DRM processes in Ethiopia. The workshop was designed to demonstrate effective decision-making, communication and coordination skills for DRM purposes - changing mindsets from problem-oriented to solution-focused in a coordinated manner.

The workshop was organized back to back with a half-day DRM Council meeting, which highlighted Ethiopia’s vision of self-reliance. At the meeting, the new DRM policy which was endorsed by the Prime Minister on 24 February 2024, was disseminated to the participants. Other important documents were also disseminated, including the Multi-Hazard, Early Warning and Early Action System Roadmap and the training package on DRM integration into development planning.

At the end of the meeting, the participants voted on the importance of the workshop, saying it was timely and that they understood that everyone has a significant role and contribution to preparing for disasters and the impact of climate change. There was also a clear recognition that disaster risk management requires active participation and coordination. Overall, participants concluded that all the meeting and workshop activities combined to ignite a strong motivation to undertake DRM implementation by sectors at the Federal and regional levels.