Furthermore, the US has recently been trying to shift assistance from disaster relief efforts to prevention of crises before they occur. Until recent years, the US had been spending twice on disaster relief as it had done on development. This trend has started to change in recent years. For instance, Clinton's Horn of Africa initiative is concentrating on identifying root causes of hunger and famine in 10 nations before they erupt. The Organization of African Unity and African Development Bank are also influential in providing development assistance to the region.
Regional cooperation is advocated as a solution to ethnic conflict and civil war in Africa.