By Abdulfatah Babatunde
The African Development Bank and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), on Thursday in Geneva, Switzerland, signed a memorandum of understanding to jointly address humanitarian and development challenges in Africa.
The MOU further elevates a partnership between the two institutions.
The signing took place on the sidelines of the Global Refugee Forum. It marked an important milestone in a partnership that has grown substantively over the past few years.
The AfDB and the ICRC recognise the connection between peace, humanitarian and development initiatives. They share the vision and commitment to sustainable impact in conflict-affected and fragile areas.
The MOU provides a multi-year framework to scale up impact in underfunded, insecure, fragile and conflict-affected settings. It emphasizes conflict prevention and climate resilience.
This innovative partnership between the continental finance institution and the global leading humanitarian organisation will leverage their respective resources and expertise to pursue three goals.
The goals include sustaining the impact and sustainability of interventions by staying engaged in insecure and conflict settings.
Others are scaling up impact for affected communities through joint resource mobilization, tailored financing instruments, and multi-country approaches.
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It also includes sharing knowledge and developing expertise on financing and delivery of sustainable impact at the Humanitarian-Development-Peace (HDP) nexus.
This strategic partnership is in alignment with AfDB’s 2022-2026 Strategy for Addressing Fragility and Building Resilience in Africa.
It is also in tandem with ICRC’s 2024 – 2027 Institutional Strategy. The MOU will, therefore, advance emergency interventions and longer-term solutions for the most vulnerable populations in those settings.
Marie-Laure Akin-Olugbade, the AfDB Vice-President for Regional Development, Integration and Business Delivery, who participated virtually from Abidjan, and ICRC Vice-President, Gilles Carbonnier at the ICRC headquarters in Geneva signed the agreement.
“This strong, ongoing, renewed and expanding partnership between the AfDB and ICRC is critical.
“The new MOU expresses our joint dedication to preventing and addressing the complex and interconnected issues facing conflict-affected communities in Africa,” Akin-Olugbade observed.
She stressed the need to ensure that the poorest and most vulnerable communities, including women, youth, forcibly displaced and host communities in areas affected by fragility and climate change are not left behind.
Also remarking, Carbonnier said: “This MoU is about delivering a holistic response, encompassing prevention, protection and assistance, to the compounded nature of protracted crises across Africa.
“The ambition is to achieve impact at scale and speed, with and for affected people.
“This milestone in ICRC’s partnership with the African Development Bank will promote respect for International Humanitarian Law (IHL)”.
He pointed out that IHL protects civilians and essential infrastructure, limiting the risk of large development reversals in armed conflict.
“Partnering to build resilience and empower communities is a means to bring dignity and hope in fragile and conflict settings.”
Representatives from both organisations attended the ceremony.
They include Yero Baldeh, Director of Transition States Coordination Office, Mamady Souare, Country Manager, CAR and Jerome Berndt, Principal Fragility and Resilience Officer for the AfDB and Patrick Youssef, ICRC Regional Director for Africa among others.
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