Jean-Noel meets with humanitarian staff at an internally displaced persons camp in Dire Dawa City in Ethiopia in his work with IOM.

Africa

Program Summary

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6
Deployments
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23
Deployment Months
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4
Countries
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5
Host Organisations

In a region grappling with emergencies new and old, the program remained responsive to immediate needs as well as gender equality and disability inclusion priorities, while supporting recovery efforts. From western Africa (Liberia) to the Horn of Africa (Somalia) and into Uganda, deployees have worked on initiatives to optimise inclusion. In FY21, six Australia Assists deployments supported humanitarian response within five UN Agencies.

“[Claire] coordinated very well even though she was not physically in-country. She was instrumental in providing a consolidated source of information on education actors at both an operational and national level. The steps taken by [Claire] to implement her duties were remarkable. She was instrumental in convincing the operations team on the importance of continuous education and refugee children having access to learning and instruction materials.”
— Head of Field Office, UNHCR Liberia

Ethiopia, including Tigray

The eruption of violence in northern Ethiopia’s Tigray state in late 2020 required the program to move rapidly to respond. The results highlight the program’s ability to address both immediate needs as well as longer-term drivers of insecurity – sometimes within the same crisis. Civil-Military Coordination expertise helped OCHA address significant access constraints that actors face as they try to respond to spiralling humanitarian needs. The work progressed, despite severe restrictions on movement, communications and resources. A Programme Officer with IOM Ethiopia worked on a coordination platform to help prevent future inter-communal violence and displacement across Ethiopia.

Leaving no one behind

Australia Assists deployments have responded to overlapping crises in Africa that are both compounding and creating new inequalities. Addressing the needs of marginalised groups has been central to deployment priorities. Melissa worked with OCHA Somalia to develop guidelines, conduct training and ensure gender and disability inclusion in the UN Somalia Humanitarian Needs Overview and Humanitarian Response Plan. In Liberia, Claire implemented best practices for the inclusion of refugee education at a national, district and country level. Meanwhile, in Uganda, engineer Valeri oversaw the construction of Infectious Disease Centres and in doing so, ensured ramps were included to improve physical accessibility.

Program agility – COVID-19

Pandemic-related travel restrictions to Africa meant 33 per cent of deployments were moved to remote roles.

Program Snapshots

Download FY21 Deployment Data