New funding from the Government of France will boost FAO’s flood response in Somalia
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The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the
Government of France recently launched an in-kind partnership, which will allow FAO and other actors to strategically focus their
flood response efforts in Somalia with innovations in technology and satellite imagery. The funding will support flood response efforts in three areas: river breakage analysis and assessment of the mitigation infrastructures put in place; monitoring and assessing possible cyclone damages and reconstruction efforts; and an almost real-time monitoring of flood impact to guide emergency response. FAO is continuously exploring new ways to optimize the use of technology to enhance its programming through diversifying its partnerships with private sector actors. This funding will support a partnership with
Khadija M Farah
An embassy is commonly a fortress or museum but in Kenya’s capital of Nairobi, the French mission is a total manifestation of diplomacy: soft power in the hard form of timber, stone and concrete. It was designed with the environment in mind but also with aesthetics and, of course, security as priorities. The quiet compound sits on a hilltop between two valleys sloping towards the narrow, murky Getathuru river and, beyond that, Nairobi’s Karura Forest. The embassy’s lawns and stands of mature bombax, cedar, cypress, fig and jacaranda can make it feel more like an extension of the woodland sanctuary than a seat of international diplomacy.