Climate Action Plan for the East and Horn of Africa and Great Lakes Region 2023-2028

As a central component of the 2022-2026 UNHCR Strategic Directions, UNHCR has globally identified eight focus areas that require renewed attention and accelerated effort. One of these is climate action. In 2021, UNHCR published its Strategic Framework for Climate Action and, in 2022, its Operational Strategy for Climate Resilience and Environmental Sustainability (2022-2025). This Regional Climate Action Plan for the East and Horn of Africa and Great Lakes (EHAGL)1 outlines a five-year vision and roadmap for the operationalization of these two documents. It highlights how UNHCR aims to accelerate results on climate action in the EHAGL region, in line with the ambition of the UNHCR Strategic Directions 2022-2026 and its Strategic Plan for Climate Action 2024-2030. The Regional Climate Action Plan also builds upon partnerships and regional climate frameworks, such as the Regional Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan (2023-2030) by the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD). This Strategy highlights the geographical differences and climatic vulnerabilities of the IGAD Member States (Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, and Uganda), and proposes key joint solutions for climate mitigation and adaptation. It also seeks to leverage work being undertaken with IGAD’s Climate Prediction and Applications Centre (ICPAC) to develop targeted climate adaptation measures for areas hosting forcibly displaced populations. The present plan was developed following a regional Theory of Change (ToC) workshop on Climate Change held in Nairobi in May 2023, and led by a Multifunctional Climate Team at the EHAGL Regional Bureau. The Plan was validated by technical focal points and sector leads at the Regional Bureau as well as climate focal points in country operations; and was finalized following consultations with key partners across the humanitarian-development-climate-security nexus.