RTI partners with USAID to strengthen locally led disaster risk management in Ethiopia

Project will create a shift from managing emergencies to managing risks

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. – Ethiopia is home to more than 120 million people and faces frequent cycles of multiple, often overlapping climate-induced disasters and other crises which significantly impacts the well-being of its population. The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has awarded RTI International, a nonprofit research institute and leading international development organization, a five-year project to strengthen disaster risk management systems and enhance resilience building.

“Ethiopia’s disaster risk management system is often overstretched by emergency responses, leaving few resources and capacity for proactive risk management,” said Marko Lesukat, RTI’s chief of party for the project. “RTI will connect local, regional and federal systems while building on the capacity of key stakeholders to overcome barriers and catalyze change.”

Drought, floods and landslides pose the most significant recurring risks. The 2020-2023 drought affected 24.1 million people in Ethiopia, 12 million people were faced with crisis levels of food insecurity and over 6.8 million total livestock were lost. Additionally, health shocks, including disease outbreaks and spikes in malnutrition, occur frequently across the country. In 2023, The Health Cluster in Ethiopia, a group of organizations that respond to medical complications, identified over 17 million people in need of emergency health interventions due to the combination of conflict, climate shocks and disease outbreaks, including cholera, measles and malaria. 

The USAID Disaster Risk Management (DRM) Activity will work to reduce the impact of shocks in Ethiopia by strengthening DRM planning and preparedness, improving DRM coordination, enhancing resource mobilization and management, and partnering with local organizations to provide locally led, tailored assistance to districts and regions. 

“Strengthening government and community systems to manage disaster risk effectively will reduce the impact of shocks, save lives, build resilience and protect development gains and reduce reliance on humanitarian assistance,” said Tania Brunn, Senior Director, Food Security & Agriculture at RTI. 

The Ethiopian Red Cross Society will facilitate the decentralization of DRM to the regions and expand local organizations’ capacity to engage in the DRM system. Oxford Policy Management will support the mainstreaming of DRM into public financial management (PFM) practices in the regions to ensure preemptive and consistent allocation of DRM funding.

The project will strengthen gender in emergencies capacity with Women Empowerment–Action (WE-Action), an Ethiopian partner that will combine forces with WI-HER, a woman-owned small business and mentor of Ethiopian organizations to mainstream gender concerns in DRM. Private sector engagement and investments in DRM will be increased with support of Planet Partnerships.  

This is one of the many projects that RTI International implements in Ethiopia, including the USAID Climate Resilience Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (CR-WASH) Activity, USAID NuMERAL, Feed the Future Ethiopia Transforming Agriculture project, among others. 

Learn more about RTI's work in Ethiopia 

Learn more about RTI’s work in climate and resilience