Five countries (Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia, Swaziland and Zimbabwe) have declared drought emergencies. South Africa has declared in all provinces except Gauteng and Mozambique has declared an institutional red alert. El Niño-related government preparedness and response plans have been developed or are under development by most countries. The recurrent nature of the drought crisis, coupled with the numerous economic and social stressors that exacerbate vulnerability in the Southern Africa region call for a two-pronged approach to assist vulnerable populations. Firstly, the region has to address the most acute humanitarian needs and secondly, use a multi-sectoral approach to build the resilience of communities in the region. The regional transport and logistics networks and systems are deemed to have adequate capacity to handle the surge in imports of humanitarian and relief supplies. However a coordinated transport logistics plan is needed in order to optimise the networks and facilitate supply and distribution. Such a strategy and plan is under development and a coordination framework is also planned. It is being recommended that key policy measures (such as “drought relief cross-border permits” and expedited customs clearance) should be put in place by all SADC countries There is an urgent need for countries in the region to develop capacities that will enable effective integration of global decisions and resolutions for climate action and disaster risk management outlined in the Paris Agreement and the Sendai framework respectively for more resilient risk informed development trajectories’ towards achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). A well-coordinated Member State response will require a strong monitoring framework. The El Niño logistics and coordination team will put systems in place and draw up a Response Monitoring Framework (RMF) covering June 2016 to March 2017, which will track achievements against agreed targets for delivery of humanitarian assistance to affected populations. 4