India could benefit from first-ever global collaboration on drought

MUMBAI: A high-level meeting on National Drought Policy which brought together global agencies and government representatives of over 300 countries marked a first-of-its-kind international collaborative effort on reducing the disaster risk related to droughts.

The forum is of significance to India where many states including Maharashtra, Karnataka and Orissa are battling their worst-ever spell of water crises, this year.

The global platform aims to move away from piecemeal and costly crisis-response and encourage countries to build resilience to the natural disaster. It is built on the premise that post-disaster relief is costlier than drought preparedness and risk management. The risk is all the more heightened given the scenario of climate change.

"Such collaboration has, unfortunately, been lacking. It is our hope that the collaboration between a large number of partners in the context of this high-level meeting will constitute the starting point for lifting this constraint at all levels," said Ann Tutwiler, Special Representative of FAO to the UN organizations in Geneva.

The meeting could provide a platform to share best practices in drought management as well as allow exchanges in knowledge and technology that would help countries like India upgrade their drought management policies and practices. It aims to promote greater collaboration to boost delivery systems at all levels and link drought management plans to local and national development policies.

Drought has been estimated to be the world's costliest natural disaster, accounting for 6-8 billion US dollars annually. UN agencies estimate that droughts have claimed over 11 million persons since 1900 globally and affected over 2 billion persons.

Underlining the importance of a sustained mitigation plan, UN secretary-general Ban Ki-Moon pointed out that "prevention must be our priority."

The meeting was organized by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD).

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