On November 28, 2019, about 100 delegates from 33 African Union countries met in Kigali to attend the 8th Session of the African Risk Capacity Agency (ARC) Conference of the Parties.

The one-day meeting, officiated by Minister of Agriculture and Animal Resources, Dr Gerardine Mukeshimana, featured the ARC Governance Reform, and presentation of the updated ARC Strategy for 2020-2024, among others.

Speaking at the event, Minister Mukeshimana thanked the organizers and their partners for having chosen Rwanda to host this very important event in Kigali.

The minister noted that ARC has started and fully operationalized its drought product in different countries and Rwanda is at its initial stage of the implementation.

“We signed a Memorandum of Understanding with ARC in November 2018 in order to address the impact of extreme weather events, including providing training support to Government personnel as preparation for Rwanda’s potential participation in future ARC drought insurance pools. All these will depend on the outcome from the current assessment being carried out jointly by the ARC and local team” Minister Mukeshimana said.

She added that whatever has been or is being developed as tools or mechanisms to deal with extreme weather events in the African countries has to capture the current and existing reality on the ground for betterment of our affected livelihood.

Created in 2012, ARC is a specialized agency of the African Union established to help African governments improve their capacities to better plan, prepare, and respond to extreme weather events and natural disasters.