<\/p>\n
The commitment emerged during a high-level visit by an IFRC delegation led by Under Secretary General Nena Stoiljkovic to the African Development Bank. The engagement brought together senior representatives from both institutions to identify practical areas for collaboration in addressing some of Africa\u2019s most pressing challenges.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Discussions focused on issues including climate change, fragility, food security, water scarcity, public health emergencies and displacement.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
AfDB Transition States Coordination Office Director Dr Yero Baldeh said the continent continues to face a complex combination of development and humanitarian challenges. \u201cClimate shocks, displacement, food and water insecurity, public health emergencies and persistent fragility continue to affect hundreds of millions of people across the continent,\u201d said Baldeh.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
According to Baldeh, addressing these challenges requires coordinated approaches that combine development finance, humanitarian assistance, climate adaptation and community resilience.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The partnership between the AfDB and IFRC dates back to a Memorandum of Understanding signed in 2013. The latest discussions were aimed at identifying ways to better leverage the comparative strengths of both organisations.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The AfDB brings financing capacity, policy influence and relationships with governments and the private sector, while the IFRC offers extensive community-based networks and operations across all 54 African countries.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
AfDB Senior Vice President Marie-Laure Akin-Olugbade said the next phase of the partnership should focus on tangible outcomes. \u201cThirteen years into this partnership, the task before us is simple: move from a broad framework to concrete, joint delivery at scale,\u201d said Akin-Olugbade.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The two organisations identified several areas where collaboration could deliver greater impact. These include linking the Bank\u2019s investments in climate forecasting and meteorological systems with IFRC\u2019s expertise in community preparedness and disaster response.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The partnership will also seek to combine AfDB investments in infrastructure, human capital and public systems with IFRC\u2019s extensive community networks and health response capabilities, including its role as an implementing entity for the Pandemic Fund.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
IFRC Under Secretary General Nena Stoiljkovic said the organisation\u2019s volunteer network provides a unique platform for community-level engagement. \u201cOur volunteers are in African communities before, during and after every crisis, and we will remain engaged,\u201d said Stoiljkovic.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Stoiljkovic said the discussions highlighted opportunities to scale cooperation in fragile regions such as the Horn of Africa and the Sahel, where communities continue to face multiple climate, security and humanitarian pressures.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Both institutions acknowledged the importance of strengthening work in vulnerable environments where development and humanitarian needs often overlap.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The mission concluded with the adoption of a refined Joint Action Plan for the 2026\u20132028 period. The plan outlines a set of targeted priorities designed to accelerate implementation across sectors including climate resilience, community health, food security, early warning systems and fragility reduction.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Baldeh said the updated roadmap aligns with the AfDB Bank\u2019s Ten-Year Strategy and broader efforts to mobilise resources for sustainable development across the continent.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
–AfDB\/ChannelAfrica–<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":39767,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"news-type":[44],"class_list":["post-39766","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-finance","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"The African Development Bank Group (AfDB) and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) are moving to expand their long-standing partnership, with both organisations agreeing to shift from broad cooperation agreements towards the joint delivery of large-scale development and resilience programmes across Africa.","published_date":"","news_description":"The African Development Bank Group (AfDB) and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) are moving to expand their long-standing partnership, with both organisations agreeing to shift from broad cooperation agreements towards the joint delivery of large-scale development and resilience programmes across Africa.","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/39766","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/39766\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39768,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/39766\/revisions\/39768"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39767"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39766"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=39766"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}