MEA | African Excellence Awards 2024 When a region faces crisis, its greatest weapon is preparedness. Having a plan in place is the best way to effectively mitigate disastrous effects, though a robust plan relies on accurate, current data and sufficient funding. The International Center for Humanitarian Affairs (ICHA) takes a comprehensive approach to ensure that these plans are in place covering the practicalities of risk preparedness all the way to the legislative elements. Its advocacy, research, and relentless innovation are instrumental in saving lives and securing the futures of disaster-prone regions, and they place the organisation on the front lines of the fight against human suffering. In areas prone to disaster, potential victims rely on preventative and damage control measures of many kinds. Forecasting these disasters is a crucial area where funding and action is needed, but when a crisis occurs despite pre-emptive efforts, the right equipment is needed, robust procedures must be in place, and responders must be well-trained to carry them out. This is where ICHA shines, raising the preparedness in these areas and equipping individuals and their communities to respond swiftly and effectively. The key elements of ICHA’s work are summarised by four services: advocacy, training and development, designing solutions, and research into climate change. The organisation combines these efforts to empower communities, preparing them for effective collaboration based on cutting-edge intelligence, and to help establish the right humanitarian laws and principles. The organisation is keen to play an active role in dialogue surrounding humanitarian issues. In collaboration with authorities and communities, its representatives engage in diplomacy and people-centred engagement to drive innovation in public policy and bridge gaps between entities. Its unique position as a research organisation and a coordinator of practical crisis prevention and damage control efforts positions ICHA as a relevant authority in the legislative process. Capitalising on its role as auxiliary to the government in disaster, it has worked closely with national and country governments to advocate for the development of disaster risk management policies and laws. Its work has bolstered efforts to adapt to climate change, tackle conflicts, and even spans healthcare and blood donation services, migrant issues, and youth and inclusion. During 2023 alone, ICHA collaborated with 16 county governments, cementing its wide influence. “We are committed towards enabling, convening, and advising on humanitarian affairs through investing in building and testing innovative solutions in appropriate settings that provide evidence of what works most effectively in humanitarian crises.” Its main product is the Innovative Approaches to Response Preparedness (IARP), a multifaceted approach to mitigate the effects of disasters in arid and semi-arid lands in Kenya. Through forecast-based financing and data preparedness, it brings new predictive and preventative measures. Cash and voucher assistance programmes also develop warning systems for floods and droughts, as well as early action protocols. The Data Preparedness Unit is ICHA’s nerve centre, generating risk data to support disaster planning and implantation efforts. It uses a suite of tools, including crowdsourcing, to assess risk and inform all relevant authorities and crisis protocols. The team’s flood risk mapping, for instance, plays a pivotal role in ensuring the preparedness of disaster units and community-based response teams. These efforts go a long way to save live The Data Preparedness Unit’s mission benefits from leading technologies and the developmental vision of its team. During efforts to support the Kenya Red Cross during El Nino flooding, it mapped out critical areas for assistance using drone imagery, and its Remotely Piloted Aircraft System unit is currently testing how to leverage artificial intelligence in the predictive analysis of drone imagery. In yet another feat of humanitarian innovation, the organisation’s climate research was instrumental in ensuring that the appropriate systems were in place to deliver life-saving assistance. “Our work took a leading role ensuring that the early warning systems and early action protocols that had previously been developed were in effect. This greatly reduced the number of people affected by the flooding that was witnessed during the OctoberNovember-December rainfall period.” Thanks to ICHA’s relentless efforts, the area grows better prepared than ever before to handle crises as they occur. It arranged mapathons, coordinated events to gather crucial geographical information, with the help of volunteers and university students. This consolidated knowledge of Open Street Maps and its usefulness in decision-making. The data generated through these events has since been applied to humanitarian efforts in risk areas, yet again proving that ICHA has its finger squarely on the pulse and boasts a leading knowledge of the holistic measures used to predict disaster. Most Dedicated Humanitarian Affairs Research Organisation 2024 – East Africa
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