Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-10 01:40:55|Editor: Jiaxin

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MOGADISHU, Oct. 9 (Xinhua) -- The Somali government has kicked off a Drought Impact Needs Assessment (DINA), which will identify the drivers and impact of recurrent drought, and outline long-term solutions that can prevent famine as a result of drought.

The move, which was reached at the end of a three-day meeting of global experts in Mogadishu on Monday, will build on data already gathered from across the country by government authorities and humanitarian and development agencies.

A statement issued at the end of the meeting, which brought together technical experts from the government at both federal and member states levels, the World Bank, EU and UN, said the assessment will be followed by the development of a Recovery and Resilience Framework (RRF) that will address the identified needs.

Speaking at the event, Minister of Planning, Investment and Economic Development Jamal Hassan said the expectations of the government for the assessment and framework are high.

"We hope the Recovery and Resilience Framework that will be developed from DINA will bring a comprehensive mechanism that we, the Federal Government of Somalia and Federal Member States, will utilize in order to mitigate the negative impacts of drought that we are still facing," he said.

Both the assessment and framework will enable preventative developmental solutions to be carried out alongside the delivery of humanitarian relief, so that Somalia may be able to transition towards sustainable recovery and disaster preparedness.

The assessment and framework exercises have been initiated and will be carried out by the Federal Government of Somalia and Federal Member States under the Government's National Development Plan, with the support of the World Bank, the European Union (EU) and the United Nations (UN).

Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Hamoud Ali Hasan, said the time was right to begin looking at and implementing long-term preventative solutions that reduce vulnerability to drought in Somalia.

Deputy Special Representative of the UN Secretary General to Somalia, Peter de Clercq, said it was vital to continue to provide humanitarian assistance while at the same time working to ensure a drought would never again turn into famine.

The Drought Impact Needs Assessment and development of the Recovery and Resilience Framework is scheduled for completion by December.