In an effort to strengthen disaster preparedness, a sensitization workshop on mainstreaming Disaster Risk Management (DRM) in the Health and Agriculture sectors in Ethiopia was organized for fifty leaders and professionals from the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA), Ministry of Health (MoH), Ethiopian Public Health Institute (EPHI), and Ethiopian Disaster Risk Management Commission (EDRMC). The workshop, held from June 13-15, 2024, at Dire International Ethiopia in Adama, was co-organized by the EDRMC, the Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC) and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

The sensitization workshop aimed to equip mid-level managers and senior experts from the MoA, MoH, EPHI, and EDRMC with the capacity to integrate disaster risk management initiatives into their respective sector’s development programs.

One of the main objectives of the workshop was to facilitate a joint intervention, analyze the current DRM mainstreaming practices, identify gaps, draw lessons learned for future improvement, and use these insights to design participatory sectoral action plans.

During the workshop, participants were presented with the overall status of DRM mainstreaming efforts within the priority sectors, lessons learned so far, challenges faced, and projected solutions.

Commissioner of the EDRMC, Ambassador Dr. Shiferaw Teklemariam, also presented on current plans and the importance of prioritizing disaster risk management in the plans of every leading sector in Ethiopia to build a disaster resilient community. He also commended the collaboration of ADPC and the Bill & Melinda Gates foundation with EDRMC and its initiatives to support these sectors in taking forward the mainstreaming agenda.

The workshop fostered collaboration among participants from various sectors. Working together, they identified ways for future collaboration and integrating DRM into their sector-specific plans. Participants expressed appreciation for EDRMC and ADPC’s efforts in bringing different sectors together and building their technical capacities. They emphasized the need for continued support to strengthen these efforts, ultimately saving lives through successful mainstreaming of DRM.