ICPAC

ICPAC is an organization that is dedicated to provide warning against climatic hazards and destructive weather to its member countries. ICPAC is initialism for IGAD Climate Prediction and Application Centre. Most recently the organization has been active in the Great Horn of Africa.

The Great Horn of Africa comprises of

  • Eritrea
  • Djibouti
  • Rwanda
  • Sudan
  • Tanzania
  • Somalia
  • Burundi
  • Uganda
  • Ethiopia
  • Kenya

This area has been a target of bad climate and climatic catastrophes. The ICPAC NGO works with its partners to help residents of the affected areas in areas of health care, risk management, agriculture and food security. Water resources in many of the affected areas are also managed by the ICPAC.

According to its mission statement, ICPAC aspires to become a major center of excellence on climate prediction and development of affected areas. Although ICPAC also focuses extensively on relief and rehabilitation efforts to affected people, their main aim is to provide timely warnings and accurate helpful information on sectors that are at serious risk due to climatic threat.

The Great Horn of Africa is known to be prone to extreme climatic events like droughts and floods. These natural disasters have a disastrous effect on many of the economic and healthcare infrastructures of the region. The ICPAC strives to monitor impending climatic disasters so that countries and communities can take precautionary measures against the consequences of a climatic catastrophe.

In addition to direct impact from natural disasters, the Great Horn of Africa is also host to a plethora of tropical diseases including cholera, typhoid, Rift Valley fever, malaria and tsetse fever.

The ICPAC aims to improve healthcare against tropical diseases by improving interaction between healthcare and meteorological departments through, workshops and team building exercises.

It also aims to work together with partners to identify climate sensitive diseases and map these diseases to determine risk zones. This will help identify safer areas for affected people.

­ICPAC also works with health authorities and institutions to prototype models for climate related diseases. This includes testing for malaria; data exchange programs and training of healthcare workers so that they become more professional in their operations.