Responding to the Food and Climate Crisis: Can cash transfers boost resilience in Somalia and beyond?

In the Horn of Africa, hunger has increased sharply, driven by economic shocks, violence and conflict, and a devastating drought.

In a conversation with the Norwegian Refugee Council, Save the Children and The World Bank, veteran BBC reporter Andrew Harding will explore how the international community is responding to the food and climate crises in Somalia and beyond. What is working to relieve hunger today and build resilience to crises in the future? What is the difference between humanitarian and development programs? How can safety nets meet critical needs, while protecting human capital?

We'll answer your questions on Facebook during the broadcast.

Answering your questions during the discussion will be Shobha Shetty, Practice Manager for the World Bank Agriculture and Food Global Practice, who covers the Horn of Africa, now suffering from a historic drought, and Claire Taylor, Programme Development and Quality Director from Save the Children in Somalia.

• David Lambert Tumwesigye

  Global Advocacy Manager, Child Poverty and an expert on Social Protection, Save the Children

  David Lambert Tumwesigye leads child sensitive social protection advocacy within the Global Policy Advocacy and Campaigns Team. David has extensive experience in social protection policy development, programme management and evidence-based advocacy. For 10 years, he was Policy & Advocacy Advisor at Uganda's Expanding Social Protection Programme, supporting delivery of Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and Irish AID technical assistance to develop a national social protection system. He oversaw analytical work to support development of a National Social Protection Policy and led policy and budget influencing, knowledge management and capacity building initiatives. He has also provided advisory support to the World Food Programme (WFP) Uganda, Embassy of Ireland and the World Bank's capacity strengthening initiatives to enhance food security and shock-responsiveness of Uganda's social protection system. Previously, David supported the ILO, DFID and UNICEF's work on the design of programs to extend child-sensitive social security coverage in Ghana.

  • @DLTum
• Perrine Piton

  Chief of Party, Building Resilient Communities in Somalia (BRCiS), led by the Norwegian Refugee Council

  Perrine Piton has worked for the BRCiS (Building Resilient Communities in Somalia) Consortium in Somalia for the past 8 years, and as the Chief of Party since 2020. BRCiS efforts focus on community-led climate adaptation, crisis modification, bridging the gap between community and system programming, an approach that has proven relevant for Somalia. Perrine's humanitarian and development career began with the French Embassy in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and in various capacities for Concern Worldwide, UNICEF, and UNDP.

• Afrah Alawi Al-Ahmadi

  Senior Social Protection Specialist, World Bank

  She is currently leading the World Bank support to Somalia is the Social Protection sector. Her area of focus is on the design and implementation of social safety net programs and delivery systems, especially in fragile, conflict and violence (FCV) affected countries. Her career at the World Bank started in 2005 and since has spanned across three regions (Middle East and North Africa, South Asia, and Africa). Ms. Al-Ahmadi holds a master's degree in Social Policy and Social Development from the University of Manchester in the UK.

• Andrew Harding

  BBC Africa Correspondent

  Moderator

  A British journalist and author. He has been living and working abroad as a foreign correspondent for the past 3 decades. Since 1994 he has been working for BBC News. Andrew has been visiting Somalia since 2000 and was in Mogadishu during the height of the battle against the Islamist militants of Al Shabab and during the famine of 2011. He is one of the very few foreign journalists to have travelled into territory controlled by Al Shabab and met their commanders, or to have visited (twice) the pirate town of Eyl. His experiences led him to write the internationally-acclaimed non-fiction book, The Mayor of Mogadishu. He has spent the recent months travelling across Mogadishu to report on the impact of the ongoing drought.

  • @AndrewWJHarding