Despite early warning signs many months in advance, the international response toward the 2011-2012 famine in the Horn of Africa region has been inadequate to meet the needs of nearly 13 million people at risk, says a January 2012 report from Oxfam and Save the Children. A Dangerous Delay says the scale of death and suffering, and the financial cost, could have been reduced if warnings from 2010 had triggered an earlier, more substantial response. The report calls on governments, donors, the UN and NGOs to adopt different response strategies to future emergencies by managing the risks, not the crisis. This means orchestrating meaningful action partly based on information learned through early warning systems and tackling the root causes of vulnerability through long-term development strategies.
Recommendations include:
Manage the risks, not the crisis
Earlier drought response
National governments should
The international aid community should