Anticipated El Niño 2026 Challenges Require Regional Solidarity: Deputy Commissioner

Addis ababa: The potential impacts of El Niño in 2026 require political leadership, national ownership and regional solidarity, Ethiopian Disaster Risk Management Deputy Commissioner Aydrus Hassan noted. He said they also require timely financing and early action beyond technical preparedness.According to Ethiopian News Agency, in his opening remarks at the IGAD Regional High-Level Forum on El Niño Preparedness for the Horn of Africa, the Deputy Commissioner said Ethiopia is strengthening its disaster risk management system to become more multi-hazard, impact-based, anticipatory and multi-sectoral. The system links monitoring, forecasting, impact assessment, early warning, preparedness, anticipatory action and response, Aydrus added.Moreover, he said that Ethiopia is strengthening national self-reliance, including through its Disaster Risk Response Fund, which provides predictable financing for disaster preparedness, early warning, anticipatory action, response and resilience building.At the regional le vel, IGAD and ICPAC have been working to strengthen cross-border information sharing, joint risk analysis, inter-operable early-warning systems and coordinated anticipatory action. These efforts are important given risks affecting shared river basins, livestock corridors, markets and population movements.Aydrus urged IGAD member states to ensure that financing is available before disasters occur and translate the regional high-level call to action into concrete commitments. He added that international assistance should complement national leadership rather than substitute for it.The Deputy Commissioner further stressed the need to connect forecast, trigger, financing, and action to protect lives, livelihoods and development gains. The forum has brought together IGAD member states and partners to strengthen regional preparedness and early action. The 2026 El Niño is forecast by the World Meteorological Organization to become a very strong, potentially historic event peaking late in the year and extending i nto 2027.