Climate Mitigation & Adaptation: Lessons from UNICEF’s Horn of Africa Drought Emergency Response 

BACKGROUND: The Convention on the Rights of the Child recognizes that global prosperity and wellbeing will ultimately depend on how we fulfil our obligation to protect the world’s children. Today, more than 3 out of 4 United Nations humanitarian appeals involve extreme weather events, an increase from just over one third back in 2001. With its new Sustainability & Climate Change Action Plan (2023), UNICEF commits itself to working with partners towards protecting the most vulnerable children from the effects of climate change and to more systematically measure the outcomes of its climate-resilient programming.

RESEARCH OBJECTIVES & METHODOLOGY: The Horn of Africa is one of the driest geographies in the world and the 2022-23 drought has been especially devastating. In 2022, UNICEF launched a L3/L2 drought emergency response covering 5 countries, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Djibouti and Eritrea. In 2023/24, the UNICEF Evaluation Office conducted a mixed-method review of UNICEF’s work on climate change mitigation and adaptation as part of its mandated evaluation of the response. The research involved the review of 100+ documents, analysis of results data and financial analysis, 40 key informant interviews and field visits to 7 project intervention areas.

CONCLUSIONS: The review found substantial evidence that UNICEF had increased climate resilience and reduced the environmental footprint of its response by (a) transitioning from water trucking to durable, climate resilient strategic borewells and switching from generators to sustainable solar power, and (b) comprehensively assessing climate risks and adopting a multi-step methodology to target areas with the greatest needs. The durable solutions approach strengthened community resiliency and contributed to breaking the cycle of displacement. Key innovations include technology solutions around climate-resilient water supply. The financial analysis made a compelling case for funding durable solutions. However, some water trucking also continued, and there were data gaps especially around sustainability.