In brief
On November 10, 2026, the East African Community’s headquarters in Arusha announced a regional emergency plan to address the ongoing El Nino‑related flooding. The plan focuses on early warning, health response, infrastructure resilience, agriculture, food security, and climate mobility. It prioritizes several high‑risk zones across member states and directs the EAC Secretariat to mobilize resources, develop a dashboard, and prepare an implementation strategy by the end of the year.
The East African Community (EAC) announced on Monday, November 10, 2026, that it has formally adopted a regional emergency plan aimed at coordinating responses to the persistent El Nino‑driven flooding and severe rainfall expected to continue through February 2027. The statement, released from the EAC headquarters in Arusha, Tanzania, highlighted the need for joint action across member states to manage the transboundary effects of extreme weather.
In an extraordinary ministerial meeting of the EAC Joint Sectoral Council on Cooperation in Defence Affairs, Interstate Security and Foreign Policy Coordination that took place on Friday, the council approved the plan during proceedings that were overseen by Rwanda’s Minister of Defence, who chaired the session. The meeting underscored the role of the council in setting the pandemic‑era regional policy agenda for disaster risk management.
"No member state could effectively manage the cross‑border effects of extreme weather alone," said Ugandan First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of East African Community Affairs Rebecca Kadaga in her remarks as chair of the EAC Council of Ministers.Rebecca Kadaga, who chairs the council, called for coordinated regional action and warned that the scale of the anticipated storms would overwhelm any single nation’s capacity. Her statement emphasized the collective responsibility of EAC partners to share resources, expertise, and information to prevent large‑scale humanitarian crises.
The adopted plan outlines five primary focus areas. First, it calls for the development of an early warning and anticipatory action system to provide timely notifications to communities at risk. Second, the plan strengthens health preparedness and response, ensuring that health facilities are equipped to handle the surge in weather‑related illnesses. Third, it emphasizes infrastructure—particularly transport corridors—and tourism resilience to reduce economic impact. Fourth, the plan tackles agriculture, food security, and livelihoods, aiming to protect local harvests and supply chains. Fifth, it addresses climate mobility and displacement, establishing protocols for the movement of populations displaced by flooding.
Priority risk areas identified by the plan include the Lake Victoria Basin, Kenya’s Tana River basin and coastal regions, parts of Somalia, the Karamoja‑Teso cluster, the western highlands of Rwanda and Burundi, eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Tanzania’s Dar es Salaam and Zanzibar. The statement notes that these zones have shown a high propensity for flooding, and that coordinated action will be essential to mitigate damage, preserve lives, and safeguard local economies in each region.
The EAC Secretariat was instructed to mobilize resources urgently and to develop a detailed implementation plan by November 30. A parallel directive requires the creation of a regional disaster information‑sharing dashboard by November 25. This dashboard will enable real‑time data exchange between ministries, local authorities, and humanitarian agencies, affording a unified view of weather alerts, resource distribution, and infrastructure status.
Members also agreed to strengthen flood‑risk management through joint reviews of levees, drainage systems, and early‑warning technology. Measures to protect transport corridors—particularly bridges and rail lines that run along riverbanks—were highlighted to ensure the continuity of trade and emergency response logistics during severe weather events.
For civilians residing in the outlined high‑risk zones, the plan signifies a substantial shift toward proactive protection. By forecasting heavy rainfall and enabling timely evacuations, the program aims to reduce the loss of life and lessen the socio‑economic toll. Local farmers and fishers in the Lake Victoria Basin, for example, will receive guidance on crop diversification and flood‑resistant agricultural practices, thereby securing their food supply and income streams.
Beyond immediate physical protection, the emergency plan also addresses the long‑term public accountability of member states. By establishing shared protocols for information exchange and resource allocation, the EAC intends to hold national governments accountable for meeting joint commitments, thereby reinforcing democratic governance within the community. The collective framework is expected to foster transparency, as citizen stakeholders are informed about cross‑border assistance plans and the status of dispatched aid.
In a region that has repeatedly suffered from El Nino‑induced devastation, the EAC’s emergency plan demonstrates an institutional commitment to safeguard vulnerable populations and to maintain political stability. By harnessing regional cooperation, the community seeks to transform the threat of climate shocks into an opportunity for collaborative governance and resilient development.
