About

The need for regional cooperation commenced in the year 2000 bringing together eleven countries from the horn of Africa and Great Lake Region; namely: Republic of Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Republic of Djibouti, Arab Republic of Egypt, Republic of Rwanda, Republic of Seychelles, Republic of Eritrea, Federal Republic of Ethiopia, Republic of Kenya, Republic of Uganda and Republic of Tanzania.

The initiative under golden spear which was sponsored by the United States government evolved over the period and settled on the establishment of a regional mechanism to attend to all disaster related matters..

To have enhanced security and protect development gains within the Golden Spear participating countries as a result of reduced risk and vulnerability.

• Strengthen regional capacity for disaster mitigation, preparedness, and response.
• Reduce disasters and their impact through enhanced regional capacity and cooperation.
• Boost disaster management capability for sustainable regional development.

In order to effectively coordinate a response to the disasters and hazards outlined above, the RDMCOE uses the following approaches:

1. Leadership: In support of the objectives of the Agreement, the RDMCOE provides leadership to sensitize the Participating Countries to the value and utility of disaster management. It identifies objectives, programs and resources required to achieve the goals of the Participating Countries’ Committee of Ministers and provide staff support to achieve them.
2. Standardization/Facilitation of Communications: The RDMCOE can identify the educational and material requirements for achieving the objectives of the Agreement and can provide common templates to facilitate the development of capacity and the means of passing information between members.
3. Education: The RDMCOE can train the trainer in educational requirements required by the community. Acting as agent for the Participating Countries, the RDMCOE will generate educational opportunities from internal or external sources to address aspects of the disaster management cycle.
4. International Outreach: The Center also allows the Participating Countries to effectively work with the International Community so that regional issues and concerns may be addressed, so that the international community can be informed on how and when to approach the members and to provide an effective means of negotiation to establish the conditions, standards and appropriateness of partnership/donors relations. A Center reflecting the opinions of multiple nations is in a far more advantageous negotiating stance than countries working on a purely bilateral basis.