ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an overview of the development of national drought management policies. It explores collaborative efforts that were started at the High-level Meeting on National Drought Policy (HMNDP) (see Chapter 2) and are implemented through the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and Global Water Partnership’s (GWP) integrated drought management programme (IDMP) and related initiatives, particularly the UN-Water Initiative on Capacity Development to Support National Drought Management Policies. Early outputs—for example, the National Drought Management Policy Guidelines—A Template for Action (see Chapter 4) and the Handbook on Drought Indices and Indicators (see Chapter 9)—provide an indication of how expert-reviewed guidance is brought together and used by drought practitioners for developing national drought management policies and applying drought indices/indicators. Regional examples from central and eastern Europe and the Horn of Africa highlight how these guidelines 40and collaborative efforts and outputs are applied. The role of IDMP is to provide a framework and commensurate technical support to countries, but the actual development and implementation of national drought plans and policies still needs to be done by governmental ministries and national stakeholders. This chapter emphasizes how information from different sources is used to support countries to shift from only reacting to droughts when they occur to adopting proactive national drought policies that focus on improved collaboration and the mitigation of drought impacts through appropriate risk reduction measures.
