from africa to japan, - unisdr · dr. enoque m. vicente 22 climate change adaptation and disaster...

1Disaster Reduction in Africa - ISDR Informs Issue 3/April 2004

From the editorDisaster Reduction in AFRICA

ISDR INFORMS

produced bythe Africa Regional Office

of theUN/International Strategy

for Disaster Reduction (UN/ISDR)

UN/ISDR Senior Regional Officer for AfricaFeng Min Kan

.

Editor Alain Valency R.

General ProductionNoroarisoa Rakotondrandria

Design & LayoutMario Barrantes

PhotographsUN/ISDR Africa, ICPAC (formerly DMCN),

Prof. D. Benouar,Department of Civil Protection - Zimbabwe

Circulation Pamela Mubuta

Printed byMajestic

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From Africa to Japan,

Some 9 months remain before the January 2005 Second World Conferenceon Disaster Reduction (WCDR) in Kobe - Hyogo, Japan.

Africa definitely is expecting much from WCDR. But before expecting much,shouldn’t we first contribute a lot to WCDR II? Indeed, as one expert put it: “Aconference is like a computer database, its output depends on the input”.

What should Africa expect mostly from WCDR?

1. That the rest of the world knows that even though Africa is not the mostdisaster-prone continent, its high vulnerability to disasters is such that itis the most affected continent;

2. That the rest of the world understands that to address this vulnerabilityissue – which is an obstacle to sustainable development, Africa has toshift from disaster response to disaster prevention/reduction;

3. That the rest of the world sees or, at least, feels that Africa’s shift (or will toshift) to disaster prevention/reduction is genuine; and

4. That, after seeing (or feeling) that Africa is genuinely pursuing this cause,and given that the event will be under the aegis of the United Nations(nations united or seeking unity), the rest of the world pledges toaccompany Africa in this new venture.

How could Africa possibly contribute to WCDR in the light of the above?

A major initiative is under way on the continent, initiated by the AUCommission, the NEPAD Secretariat and UN/ISDR Africa. It involves all AfricanRECs (Regional Economic Communities), national governments and otherUN agencies. It is aimed at developing an African Regional Strategy forDisaster Risk Management that is supposed to be adopted by the next AUSummit.

Such an endorsement by African leaders is the very key contribution thatAfrica can make and should take to Kobe. Why?

1. A formal endorsement of such a relatively “obscure technical matter” byAfrican leaders will not go unnoticed on the international chessboard.

2. It will be the expression of a shared determination on the part of Africanpeoples, African civil societies, African institutions and African leaders.

3. Being a formal and high profile commitment proclaimed before theinternational political, scientific, technical and development communities,its genuineness is likely to appear more “genuine”.

4. The rest of the world disaster management community too stands togain. Indeed such a move by Africa, if backed only by a section of the restof the world, would help to elevate disaster prevention/reduction to another“pillar” of sustainable development.

Africa’s key asset in Kobe is the AU Summit’s stamp of approval. But becausethe next AU Summit will be held in July, we are left with only two months (Mayand June), 61 days, 43 working days…

Are 43 working days enough? Yes, 43 “hard” working days are enough…provided, however, that we bear in mind that this AU Summit will be our lastport of call on our long journey from Africa to Japan.

R. Alain [email protected]


From this third issue of “ISDR Informs – Disaster Reduction In Africa” UNDP’s Bureau for Crisis Prevention and Recovery(BCPR), and specifically its Disaster Reduction Unit (DRU), is happy to announce that it will provide support to UN/ISDRAfrica for production and translation costs.

BCPR serves to bring focus and substantive support to UNDP’s overall strategy and range of disaster reduction andrecovery activities, involving UNDP Country Offices, Regional Bureaux and specialized agencies. As the focal point inUNDP for the ISDR and within the framework of the goals and objectives of the UN/ISDR, BCPR, in direct collaboration withUNDP Country Offices, provides substantive and financial support to operational activities to strengthen capacities fordisaster reduction to enable national governments, regional organizations, local authorities, civil society and otherstakeholders to design and implement relevant and effective policy frameworks, strategies and plans, programmes andprojects to manage and reduce disaster risks.

In Africa, BCPR’s Disaster Reduction Unit is collaborating closely with UN/ISDR to provide support to the promotion andimplementation of disaster risk reduction at regional, sub-regional, national and local levels and within the United Nationsand other agencies and organizations through:

• Increased disaster risk management capacity and institution building with national governments, regionaland sub-regional organizations, UN Country Offices and other stakeholders

• Implementation of sustainable recovery programmes that emphasise long-term risk reduction• Development and promotion of the dissemination of knowledge and information on disaster risk reduction

through new and existing networks• The integration of disaster risk reduction into country development programmes, the UNDAF and CCF• Supporting programmes at regional and sub-regional level that aim to enhance national programmes• Working collaboratively with other UN agencies and national and international organizations.

UNDP Announcement


IN THIS ISSUE

2 UNDP Announcement3 From the Editor

From Africa to Japan

4 Disaster reduction in Africa4 Accountability, governance in disaster risk reduction - Dr. Hesphina Rukato7 ZIMBABWE - Disaster Management Act expected in Parliament in June;

MPs briefed, consulted - Mr. Madzudzu Pawadyira8 Africa disaster reduction efforts hailed, Africa working group to be formed - Dr. Hesphina Rukato10 Mitigation of earthquake disasters in Uganda - Mr. Martin Owor

12 Views and reviews12 SENEGAL: Flood-prone coastal town promotes culture of risk - Mr. Aliou Mamadiou Dia14 DISASTER RISK REDUCTION: Enabling communities to manage water - Mr. Rowena Hay,

Mr. Peter Rogers and Dr. Chris Hartnardy16 Drought, governance and social conflict in Southern Somalia - Mr. Ali Warsame Nagheye18 African researchers to understand vulnerability resilience of rural livelihoods - Ms. Gina Ziervogel20 MOZAMBIQUE: Maputo, a geo-environmental hazard prone city - Dr. Isidro Manuel and

Dr. Enoque M. Vicente22 Climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction - Mr. David Lesolle24 Floods and debris flow disaster in Algiers - Prof. Djillali Benouar

28 UN/ISDR Africa National Platform in Action28 DJIBOUTI: Experts. ISDR Platform members discuss use of climate information - Mr. Ahmed M. Madar29 MADAGASCAR: ISDR National platform contributes to cyclone damage rehabilitation - UN/ISDR Africa29 COMOROS: ISDR National platform established - UN/ISDR Africa

33 UN/ISDR World in Action33 Message for the World Water Day 2004 - UN Secretary General34 ZIMBABWE: “UNGuidelines for reducing floods” launched in Harare - Mr. Alain Valency35 Speech of Hon. Tinus Rusere, Deputy Minister, Ministry of Rural Resources and Water Development, Zimbabwe38 2004 Sasakawa Award41 2005 World Conference on Disaster Reduction

51 African Policy Makers talk about Disaster Reduction51 Hon. Fulgence Dwima Bakana, Minister of Public Security, Burundi

53 UN/ISDR Africa in Action53 UN/ISDR Africa 2003 activities at a glance56 Publication update57 INDIAN OCEAN ISLANDS: Disaster reduction “gain momentum”

58 Partners in Action58 UNDP launches landmark global report on Disaster risk reduction and development - Mr. Kenneth Westgate60 SADC: Mid season strategic assessment and disaster preparedness - Mr. Richard Masundire61 CLIMATE INFORMATION IN DISASTER MANAGEMENT: Towards a regional strategy in the

Great Horn of Africa - Mr. Zachary Atheru63 Strong legal institutional frameworks for Disaster Management - Dr. James Kamara and Mr. Laurent Granier64 Comoros seek to improve disaster preparedness, contingency planning - Mr. Mohamed Abchir65 KENYA: Towards women’s active participation in Disaster Management - UN/ISDR Africa68 REMOTE SENSING: Africa Association’s bi-annual conference slated for October 2004 - Mr Ambrose Oroda69 Experts agree on “Common Alerting Protocol” - Ms Christian Sikandra


Accountability, governance in disaster riskreductionDr Hesphina RukatoAdvisor, Environment and TourismNEPAD Secretariat,Johannesburg, South Africa

Efforts are now being made in Africa tolay the foundation for long-termsolutions to reduce disaster risks, butthe issue of stakeholder accountabilitystill remains unclear. This article seeksto initiate a discussion on how best todevelop accountability mechanismsand institutional coordination – tomaximise the ongoing efforts.

The recurrence of natural disasters on theAfrican continent is catching theattention of political leaders, and gainingprominence in the sustainabledevelopment agenda. However, whileefforts are now being made to lay thefoundation for long-term solutions todisaster risk reduction, the issue ofstakeholder accountability in disaster riskreduction in Africa still remains unclear.The purpose of this article is to initiate adiscussion on how best to developaccountability mechanisms andappropriate institutional coordination atall levels, to ensure maximisation ofefforts aimed at disaster risk reduction.

Who is responsible?There are many institutions that havedifferent roles and responsibilities indisaster management. These includegovernments (at various levels), theprivate sector, the research community,non-governmental organisations (NGOs),community-based organisations (CBOs),development partners, and various UNagencies. Given the multiplicity ofstakeholders in the area, with differingmandates, ascertaining who takes finalresponsibility for integrating disaster riskreduction into development planningbecomes intricate.

Technically speaking, governmentsshould bear the final responsibility.However, many governments face amultitude of constraints in integratingdisaster risk reduction into their national

development frameworks, hence theimportance of stakeholder anddevelopment partner support inintegrating disaster risk reduction indevelopment planning.

Need for well-articulatedpartnershipDevelopment partners, NGOs and theprivate sector have a big role to play ininfluencing and shaping governmentpolicies and strategies. However, thereare limits on the extent to which they takeresponsibility for the final outcome ofdevelopment processes, irrespective ofthe roles they would have played inshaping the same development agenda.

Having a well-articulated partnershipbetween governments and theirdevelopment partners, including non-governmental institutions, is thereforeimportant to not only ensuring effectivedisaster risk management but ultimatelypoverty eradication, and attaining theinternationally agreed MillenniumDevelopment Goals (MDGs).

The Partnerships, as they have beenperceived and which are further

elaborated in other sections of this article,should extent beyond politicalagreements and frameworks, toencompass programmatic implementation,based on the principle of mutualaccountability, and shared responsibility,including at national as well as locallevels.

“Mutual” accountabilityThe debate around mutual accountabilityin relation to development is central toNEPAD, and has been highlighted ascritical in changing Africa’s engagementwith its development partners from oneof donor-recipient to one of equalpartners.

Under NEPAD, African governments,both individually and collectively, havepledged to take responsibility for Africa’sdevelopment agenda. However, given thepervasive and far-reaching nature ofimpacts and causative factors ofvulnerability, the efforts of governmentsshould be complimented by stakeholderand development partner support. In thatregard, the NEPAD base documentappropriately stipulates that:

Disaster Reduction in Africa


What is required to mobilise …resources [capital, technology, andhuman skills] and to use themproperly, is bold and imaginativeleadership that is genuinelycommitted to a sustained humandevelopment effort and theeradication of poverty, as well as anew global partnership based oninterest.

If this is to be taken as the guidingprinciple, high-level two-wayaccountability would require analysis ofthe following:(i) What is the level of governmentaccountability with regards to disasterrisk reduction? (ii) What is the level ofaccountability of the donor community,including the implementing agencies, withregards to disaster risk reduction?Technically, and politically, guidingframeworks exist that provide a basis forthe accountability of both governmentsand development partners in relation todevelopment assistance and its effectiveuse in Africa. These frameworks can beapplied to the area of disaster riskreduction.

Below is a list of selected internationally-recognised and adopted frameworks:

• The NEPAD base document;• The Development Partnership Strategy

(first set out in the OECD/DAC 1996policy statement on “Shaping the 21stCentury: The Role of DevelopmentCooperation”);

• The Millennium Development Goals• The Monterrey Consensus• The Kananaskis G8 Africa Action Plan• The 2002 OECD Ministerial Statement

in “Action for a Shared DevelopmentAgenda”

• The World Summit on SustainableDevelopment Johannesburg Plan ofImplementation

• The Africa Peer Review Mechanism(APRM)

Shared” responsibilityGiven the critical role of developmentpartners and institutions in shaping theagenda in disaster risk reduction, theyshould not be seen to absolvethemselves from the outcomes of theimplementation of these agendas, but

rather embrace a shared responsibilitybetween all partner institutions and therespective governments.

The habitual working relationship indealing with DR (Disaster Reduction)issues has remained as it has always beenknown specifically, because of the waythat development partners andinstitutions and governments chose towork in the past. Having now recognised,through NEPAD for example, that the pastapproaches to disaster risk reductionhave not delivered the desired outcomes,it is the responsibility of all concerned togo back to the drawing board anddevelop a plan that can work in the longterm.

In addition, there is a need to ensure thatall practitioners adopt the commitmentsand guidance such as those provided ininternationally accepted developmentframeworks (such as those pointed outabove) in their daily operations. This willensure a move away from the “victim”syndrome, whereby recipients neglectinvesting in long-term strategies fordisaster risk reduction, throughpredictions that humanitarian aid willcome during these times of need.Simultaneously, the donor communitywould also need to avoid the “saviour”approach, awaiting until disasters strikebefore releasing resources, and thereforepresumably “imprinting” in the minds ofcommunities the image of “saviour-in-times-of-need”.

Clearly these two approaches do notwork, and communities become the long-term losers, as they are the most affectedand with no opportunity to influencepolicy change.

Two-pronged approach, win-winsituationPast experience in African developmenthas demonstrated that short-term projectapproach to integrating disaster riskreduction is not sustainable.There are various examples of situationswhere development partners andinstitutions only rally around a disasterby providing humanitarian assistance.Once the actual disaster has receded, inphysical terms, there are often nosustainable follow-up mechanisms tostrengthen the capacities of affected

communities and governments, to enablethem to cope with future disasters of thesame nature and magnitude.

While such humanitarian assistance isalways critical as an immediate response,it does not add value on a sustainedbasis. What is needed is holistic and two-pronged approach that addresses boththe short-term impacts of a disaster, aswell as the overcoming root cause of acountry, or community’s vulnerability.Development partners and institutionsand indeed governments need not just beinvolved on an “event” basis. Theyrather both need to create an integratedand holistic approach will lead to a win-win situation, whereby a country’sresilience to natural disasters isstrengthened, and any additionalresources can then be used fordevelopmental purposes, particularly inthe vulnerable areas.In this way, African ownership of DRprocesses is created and sustained, anddevelopment partners would trulycontribute to the attainment of the MDGsand the achievement of NEPADobjectives.

Policy coherenceWhile there is a need to ensure mutualresponsibility amongst all stakeholders, itis also important that countries developthe appropriate policies and institutionalbase to guide the implementation of DRprogrammes at national, sub-regional andcontinental levels.

Without clear guidance on how countriesprefer implementation to take place, andthe roles and responsibilities ofstakeholders, it may become difficult tohold partners, as well as the implementingcountries, responsible for activities thatoccur in a vacuum.

The work that the AU/NEPAD isundertaking (in partnership with the UN/ISDR Africa, in cooperation with UNDPand UNEP) on developing a continentalstrategy for disaster risk reduction, isaimed at providing policy guidance forthe implementation of sub-regional andregional initiatives on disaster riskreduction. The initiative is aimed atimplementing coherent andcomplimentary disaster risk reductionprogrammes at the continental level, and



provides a platform for partners toconverge in a coordinated manner toachieve shared objectives.

Institutional coordination at thecountry level remains a challenge tointegrating disaster risk reduction indevelopment planning. Sustainabledevelopment requires effectiveinstitutional coordination amongvarious governmentcomplex, working arrangements andmandates. Good policies and strategiesare only as good as they can beeffectively implemented. This requirescoordinating mechanisms that arecurrently absent in many countries. Ifprogress is to be made in theintegration of disaster risk reduction,institutional coordination needs to beprioritised as a “must” at all levels. Thiswill avoid duplication of activities,competition among institutions andoverlap among governmentdepartments.

Lack of clarity around roles andresponsibilities. Another seriousimpediment to building the capacities ofcountries to responding to naturaldisasters is lack of clarity around rolesand responsibilities amongst manystakeholders. The private sector usuallyresponds to natural disasters byproviding basic and immediate amenities(such as transport, food and blankets),and yet are hardly involved in policyformulation for disaster management.Furthermore, NGOs and CBOs, whichwork closely with communities where theproblems occur, are often hardlyconsulted on the development andimplementation of policies on disastermanagement.

It can therefore be said that the uncertaintysurrounding the roles and responsibility ofinternational partners and nationalgovernments in many cases is furthercompounded by lack of clarity on the roleof stakeholders at the national level. It is

important that governments createnational multi-stakeholder forums fordisaster management, whose functions,amongst others, would be to streamlinethe roles and responsibilities of allstakeholders.

Role of research, research community.One of the most debated issues withregards to roles and responsibilities hasbeen that of the role of research and theresearch community in disaster riskreduction.

The research community has an importantrole to play in directing policies on thebasis of research findings, but theirrelationship with policy makers andimplementers has not always been clearlylinked. In addition, the role of theinternational research community vis-à-vis local policy making is even morevariable. In this context, there is a needfor streamlining clearly articulated rolesand responsibilities of all researchstakeholders who work in the area ofdisaster management into national policyframeworks.

ConclusionLong-term investments are a prerequisitefor effectively integrating disaster riskreduction in sustainable development.However, such investments can onlyhappen with a coherent and integratedpolicy and institutional framework withclear mandates for stakeholderinvolvement. Regular engagementsbetween governments and theirdevelopment partners are thereforecritical for shared responsibilities andeffecting stakeholder accountability, aswell as monitoring the achievement ofshared goals.

Disaster risk reduction is a developmentmatter and should be a sharedresponsibility of development partners,national stakeholders and nationalgovernments, regional economiccommunities (RECs), the African Union,as well as NGOs, CBOs, the privatesector and UN agencies working in thisfield.


ZIMBABWE - Disaster Management Act expectedin Parliament in June; MPs briefed, consulted

Mr. Mazudzu PawadyiraDirector,Department of Civil ProtectionMinistry of Local Government, Public Worksand National HousingHarare, Zimbabwe

A Disaster Management Act will besubmitted to Parliament in June.Meanwhile, MPs have been briefedand consulted during an “advocacyseminar”. An “unplanned gain” wasscored on the budgetary front…

An Emergency Preparedness andDisaster Management Act that willreplace the 1989 Civil Protection Act inZimbabwe will be presented to Parliamentsometimes in June this year. But beforesubmitting the bill, the Department ofCivil Protection (Ministry of LocalGovernment, Public Works andTransport) has organized a three-dayadvocacy seminar for MPs.

Seminar for MPs, widerconsultation of stakeholdersThe purpose of the two-day seminar wasto acquaint parliamentarians on thehistorical and conceptual backgroundinformation on disaster management, aswell as to enable them to make informeddecisions on the proposed provisions ofthe revised Act.

The workshop was part of a widerconsultation process aimed atstrengthening policy and legislation ondisaster management in order to ensureeffective and efficient disastermanagement and sustainabledevelopment

During the seminar, key stakeholders indisaster management presented theirroles and current shortfalls in preparingand responding to emergencies ordisasters.

Through the ensuing discussion,suggestions were made to improve the

service delivery of the Department ofCivil Protection through its ownprovisions and also through the efforts ofcollaborating partners.

On the whole, the consultative processwas a success. The legislators’ insightmanagement was markedly improved atthe end of the exercise. Participationduring the discussions was lively and theneed for the new policy thrust wasendorsed.

Unplanned gain on budgetaryfrontUnlike other stakeholder consultations,the advocacy seminar, perhapsdeliberately so, did not yield much in theway of recommendations. Its focus wason informing the participants. It thereforeachieved its major objective.The workshop also scored an unplannedgain on the budgetary front. It becameapparent that the budgetary allocation tothe Department of Civil Protection needsto be boosted in line with the diverseemergencies befalling the country. Thelegislators undertook to ensure thatParliament would ensure that adequatefunds would be voted into the Fund atthe material time.

Some legislators felt that thepresentations by some facilitators weretoo technical for their comprehension.This observation was noted, leading tothe toning down of some deliveries.Emphasis was then put on discussionsrather than in the presentations to thesatisfaction of the majority.

Background to review of 1989Civil Protection ActIt was noted that the need to review theCivil Protection Act of 1989 was based ona number of events and activities thathappened in the past decade, the mostnotable ones being the following : theNational Policy Review Workshop onDisaster Management in Zimbabwe, the

National Technical EmergencyPreparedness and Disaster ManagementWorkshop for Focal Points, EPR(Emergency Preparedness) workshopsheld in all the 8 provinces, The NationalConference on Lessons Learnt onCyclone Eline Induced Flooding Disaster- November 2000.

The above workshops were attended byvarious stakeholders, and it was notedthat all the workshops recommended theneed for central government to providemore funding for disaster management aswell as to review the Civil Protection Act,inter alia.

The MPs were then told that it wasagainst this background that theDepartment of Civil Protection hadundergone the process of reviewing theCivil Protection Act considering some ofthe recommendations made duringconsultative meetings with sectorministries, the private sector, NGOs andlocal authorities.

Following these various consultativemeetings with stakeholders, theDepartment of Civil Protection came upwith a draft Emergency Preparedness andDisaster Management Act.

War-related civil protectionconcept outdatedThe MPs were informed that the Act wasready for tabling in Parliament, and thatthe seminar was therefore a continuationof the consultative exercise, this timefocusing on parliamentarians, a crucialfacet of the legislation reform process.The Director of Civil Protection said theoverall aim of the seminar was tostrengthen policy and legislation ondisaster management in order to ensuresustainable development.

It was also noted that civil protection wasa concept that evolved as a result of warsand was not well understood by manypeople.



Funds for disaster managementnot adequateIt also appeared that the role of civilprotection was not appreciated bymany, even policy makers, hence itsmarginalization when it comes tofunding.

The plenary meeting felt that the fundsallocated for disaster management wasnot adequate.

It was also noted that there was urgentneed for the country to acquirespecialized rescue equipment toeffectively deal with disasters of allkinds.

Minister calls for adequatefundingIn his opening speech, the Minister forLocal Government, Public Works andNational Housing, Dr IMC Chombo,stressed the need to put in placemechanisms that would ensure properdisaster prevention and preparedness byall stakeholders.

The Minister said the effects of disasterswere far reaching in terms of humandeaths and suffering as well as for theeconomy. He pointed out that it wasagainst this background that it wasimperative to seek positive support fromparliamentarians as the policy making

supreme body representing the politicalwill of the people.

He stressed that the provisions on the newAct would widen the preparedness andcapabilities of the country to deal with theever-increasing disasters.

The Minister emphasized the need foradequate funding for disaster managementin the country and called forparliamentarians’ support so as to enablesubstantial budgetary allocation for theDepartment of Civil Protection.

He stressed that disaster managementcould only produce quality results if it wasappropriately and adequately funded.

Africa disaster reduction efforts hailed, Africaworking group to be formedDr Hesphina RukatoAdvisor, Environment and TourismNEPAD Secretariat,Johannesburg, South Africa

Collaborative efforts being promotedby UN/ISDR Africa with regional andUN partners are providing significantassistance in advancing betterunderstanding of disaster riskreduction in Africa.

This comment was made during the 8th

meeting of the UN Inter-Agency TaskForce on Disaster Reduction (IATF-DR)held in Geneva in November 2003 underthe chairmanship of the UN UnderSecretary-General for HumanitarianAffairs and Emergency ReliefCoordinator, Mr Jan Egeland.

The IATF-DR is one of the two structuresthe UN International Strategy for DisasterReduction (UN/ISDR), the other structurebeing the Geneva-based UN/ISDRSecretariat whose Africa outreachprogramme is UN/ISDR Africa.

Among the major issues discussed duringthe Geneva meeting was the process ofdisaster reduction activities in Africa.

Towards a “Working Group onDisaster Reduction in Africa”The IATF-DR welcomed a report jointlyprepared by the African Union (AU), theNEPAD Secretariat, Drought MonitoringCentre – Nairobi (DMCN – renamedIGAD1 Centre for Climate Prediction andApplications, ICPAC) and UN/ISDRAfrica.

In this connection, the IATF-DRrecommended that continued efforts bemade within the framework of the ISDR tosupport, strengthen and promote sub-regional collaboration in Africa, includingthe ongoing AU/NEPAD-led process ofdeveloping a comprehensive strategy fordisaster risk reduction in Africa.

It was agreed that a disaster riskreduction forum known as “WorkingGroup on Disaster Risk Reduction inAfrica” should be established in Africa in2004.

The Working Group to be chaired by theAU will get support from UN/ISDR Africa.Membership of the Working Group willcomprise the AU, the NEPAD Secretariatand all Regional Economic Communities(RECs). The UNDP will represent, in

observer status, UN agencies working ondisaster risk reduction issues in Africa.

It was suggested that in addition toUNDP representation in the WorkingGroup, UN agencies may conveneseparate meetings to facilitate their workin relation to the Working Group.

Overall goal of the WorkingGroupThe overall goal of the Working Group isto support the efforts of AU/NEPAD andnational governments to advance disasterrisk reduction and facilitate themainstreaming and integration of disasterrisk reduction into all phases ofdevelopment in Africa, in order to achievethe objectives of NEPAD.

Specific objectivesThe Working Group will focus on:• Providing guidance on disaster risk

reduction to national authorities;• Providing guidance on regional

preparation and recommendationsfor the Plan of Action of theWorld Conference on DisasterReduction (WCDR) to be held inKobe, Hyogo, Japan, in early 2005;



• Enhancing collaboration andcoordination among differentstakeholders on disaster mitigationand management, such as droughtsand floods in Africa; and

• Facilitating the creation of a bodyof knowledge in disaster riskreduction in Africa.

Proposed activities in 2004The first meeting of the Working Groupwas convened from 26 to 27 April 2004 inJohannesburg, South Africa. Proposedactivities for the year are, among others,to:• Develop a network on drought in Africa

and coordinate the compilation anddissemination of information onmitigation of the impacts of disasters,such as drought;

• Foster development of ISDR nationalplatforms to advance disaster riskreduction at national level;

• Encourage gender-inclusive disastermanagement policies and initiatives,mainly through promotion of womenparticipation;

• Identify gaps of disaster risk reductionand key areas of intervention;

• Coordinate regional preparations forAfrican participation in the WorldConference on Disaster Reduction(WCDR); and

• Advocate the necessity and importanceof integrating disaster risk reductioninto poverty alleviation strategies andsustainable development.

Africa moving towards reducingimpacts of disastersThe activities listed above and UN/ISDR assistance to Africa demonstratethe extent to which Africa is movingtowards reducing the devastatingimpacts of disasters on developmentefforts.

The formation of the Africa Working Group,and the development of its scope of work, isalso evidence of the seriousness of the AUin addressing impediments to Africa’sdevelopment, such as natural disasters, inthe context of NEPAD.

RECs have been identified as pivotaldrivers and implementers of NEPADprogrammes at sub-regional level, hencetheir inclusion in the Working Group asfocal sub-regional representatives.

It is to be noted that the role of theWorking Group will be to provideguidance and advice on relevant mattersthat require a continental approach. TheWorking Group will not implementprojects.



However, death and destruction causedby earthquakes have been lower inUganda compared to devastation in othercountries by earthquakes of the samemagnitudes. The main reason is that mostearthquakes in Uganda have occurred inareas of little infrastructure and lowpopulation density. This combination ofabsence of developed infrastructure andlow population density is what has savedthe country.

Number of infrastructures likeconcrete housing stocksdoublingHowever, over the last 17 years, Ugandahas been developing very rapidly withgrowth rates of 5-8% of GDP. Such a rapideconomic growth, coupled with highpopulation growth, has been manifestedin valuable infrastructural developmentsuch as modern concrete housing stocksthat has doubled in numbers over theabove period. The housing stocks areboth commercial and residential, and aremainly in urban areas.

With such high economic, population andhouse construction rates, and withseismic activity being the highest in sub-Saharan Africa, the country’s Departmentof Disaster Management is deeplyworried of the possible magnitude of thedisaster when the next significantearthquake strikes. Indeed, significantearthquakes are bound to reoccur inUganda.

Need for mitigation measures,skillsThe fact remains however that death anddamage to infrastructure can be minimizedthrough appropriate seismic hazardmitigation measures.

These measures include activities such as1) land use planning, (2) awarenesscreation, (3) development oforganisational capacities, (4) projectingthe magnitude of anticipated damage, (5)

putting in place vulnerability reductionmeasures such as publishing modeldesigns of new structures that canwithstand seismic forces andencouraging their use, (6) developmentand enforcement of building codeelements, and (7) undertaking research inthe formulation of comprehensivemethods for assessing socialvulnerability to earthquake threats.

However, management of earthquakedisasters is multi-sectoral, and personnelhaving all the various skills required arenot available from any governmentdepartment/ministry.

Public awareness initiativestakenMeanwhile, to educate and raiseawareness among members of the publicon various issues of earthquake disasters(including earthquake disasterpreparedness and mitigation), theDepartment of Disaster Management(DDM) has successfully organized aseries of workshops and seminars inKampala city and Fort PortalMunicipality.

In December 2000, DDM and UgandaSeismic Safety Association (USSA)successfully organized, in the capital, aninternational conference on disasterpreparedness under the theme “ReducingEarthquake Effects in DevelopingCountries”. The conference attractedparticipants from USA, Europe, Asia,Japan and many African countries.DDM and USSA organized a similarinternational conference on disasterpreparedness in December 2002 under thetheme “Earthquake Hazards in aDeveloping Country”.

The international conferences,workshops and seminars providedopportunities for researchers,


Mitigation of earthquake disastersin UgandaMartin Owor,AssistantCommisionnerDisaster Preparedness & RefugeesDepartmentMinistry of Disaster Preparedness &RefugeesOffice of the Prime MinisterRepublic of Uganda

Uganda is one of the most seismicallyactive country in sub-Saharan Africa.The following is an article on theUgandan situation, the challengesfaced by the country, the initiativestaken, and the possible way forward.(Original text slightly edited by UN/ISDR Africa for larger circulation; sub-headings inserted editorially)

Earthquake occurrence in Uganda ismostly related to the East African RiftSystem (EARS). The country’s westernborder lies almost wholly within thewestern branch of the EARS, while itseastern branch is only about 200 km fromUganda’s eastern border. Moreover, thewestern branch terminates in Uganda.

This unique geological setting makesUganda one of the most seismicallyactive countries on the African continent.Some of the earthquakes that haveoccurred in the country caused death anddamage to infrastructure worth billions ofUganda shillings.

Most of deaths result fromcollapsing buildingsThe Tororo earthquake of 1966 inWestern Uganda, for instance, left 157people dead and 1,320 others injured, anddestroyed and caused damage to some67,000 huts and houses. The 1994Kisomoro earthquake (also in WesternUganda) caused damage and destructionworth 6bn Uganda shillings (3 million USdollars) and killed 8 people.

The physical consequences ofearthquakes to people are death, injuryand damage to man-made structures,most of the deaths resulting fromcollapsing buildings.



practitioners and other stakeholders toshare experiences on earthquake disasterpreparedness and management. Itbrought together professionals from thebroad range of disciplines committed toreducing the impact of earthquakes onsociety. These disciplines includegeology, structural engineering,architecture, seismology, emergencyresponse planning, mobilisation andmedia.

National seismic code,technical construction manualsin placeFollowing recommendations made by theinternational conferences, the Departmentof Disaster Management, in partnershipwith Makerere University’s Faculty oftechnology and Uganda National Bureauof Standards (UNBS), prepared a NationalSeismic Code.

Also, together with the Ministry ofWorks, Housing and Communication, itprepared technical construction manualsto guide construction of seism-resistantstructures in earthquake disaster proneareas.

The DDM and USSA (Uganda SeismicSafety Association) are planning toconstruct and equip a demonstration unitto be referred to as “National SeismicInformation Resource Centre”.

Towards a “Seismic InformationResource Centre”This centre will have all the kinds oftechnical information on earthquakeengineering, earthquake disasters causedby previous earthquakes, earthquakecounter measures/mitigation efforts fromother regions and related information inthe field of seismology.

The centre will be constructed with thefollowing provisions: (1) a museum tocapture the photographic records ofprevious earthquakes, (2) a conference/seminar room to allow for sustainability ofthe venture, (3) a video room to allow forshowing of damage, experiences fromprevious events, (4) office space,reception hall, ablution areas and otherservices.

The acquisition of a seismic informationresource centre would provide Uganda

and many African countries with a centralpoint for such information. It will furthergive us an opportunity to evaluate thedesigns that have been prepared, drawlessons and share such experiences withthe local communities and beyond.The resource centre will strengthen thework of district disaster managementcommittees, as well as that of local NGOs.Additionally, it might prepare/producetraining material for school children.

For more information on earthquakes inUganda, please contact the followingengineers:••••• Assoc. Prof B.M. Kiggundu, Dean,

Faculty of Technology, MakerereUniversity, Kampala.Tel. +256-71-540421

••••• Dr E.M. Twesigomwe, Faculty of SocialSciences, Makerere University. Tel.+256-41-531498

••••• Mr M. Matovu, Lecturer, Faculty ofTechnology, Makerere University. Tel.+256-77-507357point for suchinformation. It will further give us anopportunity to evaluate the designs thathave been prepared, draw lessons andshare such experiences with the localcommunities and beyond.


SENEGAL: Flood-prone coastal townpromotes culture of risk

Aliou Mamadou DIAPh.D. studentDepartment of Geography, Faculty ofHumanities and Social SciencesCheikh Anta Diop University, Senegal

Flood impact in Saint-Louis town,Senegal, is worsened by humanbehaviours. A culture of risk has beenpromoted to enable people to acquiresome good reflexes. But shifting to aculture of risk is not that easy…

It was only after the harmful floods of1994 and 1999 in the northwestern coastaltown of Saint-Louis that flood controland protection strategies have become amatter of urgency.

Developing a culture of risk then becamea must for the Lower Senegal townresidents (over 150,000 people), most ofwhom living on flood plains.

Water… everywhereLocated between the ocean and RiverSenegal’s numerous arms and affluents -that constitute water belts around thetown, the site’s peculiarity is that water isjust everywhere.

During the entire rainy season, the samesequence of events does invariably occurwith more and more tragic floods. Firstcomes the tragic and shocking scenery,followed by an assessment of the materialdamage and human casualty – whichenables to see how serious the eventwas. Then, immediately after, sometentative explanations of thephenomenon are given, explanations thatinvariably raise the issue of humanresponsibility.

Flood impact worsened by…residentsEven though the floods are obviously afact of nature, their impact on localresidents depend to a large extent on theresidents’ behaviours.

Therefore, all queries about humanfactors involved in the floods occurringin the River Senegal valley, and in asection of the national territory (namelySaint-Louis town), would focus onpossible negligence in land use andprotection, alert and preventionmeasures. In a nutshell, the queriesamount to an analysis of all possible actsof negligence that might have made itdifficult to control the phenomenon andreduce its impact.

Indeed local residents, by lack ofknowledge, carelessness,thoughtlessness or lack of memory,would just worsen the impact of thefloods.

It is clear that no prediction, noprevention and no preservation is perfect.However, this cannot be a justification forthe laxness that prevails in Saint-Louisregion when it comes to land use. Hencethe need to promote a genuine culture ofrisk among residents.

Past events… not rememberedIndeed it is because such a culture of riskis missing, and especially because pastevents are not remembered, that floodshave invariably been taken so lightly.

It is also the same lack of risk culture thatparalyzes or inflames any debate on whatwould be the right political choices forflood protection and prevention measuresin Senegal.

Land use in flood-prone low-lying areassurrounding Saint-Louis town is drought-based, and the low river levels and scarcerainfall of Senegal’s long drought perioddo not incite to build protection devices.

Risk management structuresput in placeAs said earlier, flood control andprotection became a matter of urgencyafter the harmful floods of 1994 and 1999.

In July 2001, a Commission nationale degestion prévisionnelle des inondations

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(CONAGPI - National Commission forPredictive Flood Management) wasestablished under the supervision of theInterior and Local Government Ministryin collaboration with the Ministry ofTown and Regional Planning.

The Commission, known generally as the« National Flood Control Unit », iscomposed of several regional unitswhose mission is to make a census of allflood-prone zones and suggest solutionsto the national unit. The objective was toconduct a thorough assessment of thesituation prevailing in regions affected byfloods, and promote synergy between allthose involved in flood management sothat relatively long-term solutions couldbe found.

During the major floods of September2003, a crisis unit was set up under thesupervision of the Interior and LocalGovernment Ministry following an orderfrom the President of the Republic. Thecrisis unit, which grouped togetheralmost all the other governmentministries, was mainly charged with theduty of taking urgent measures likely tohandle the situation, especially theconstruction of lateral water outlets andcompensating reservoirs upstream fromthreatened sites.

Management, plans of actionahead of rainy seasonsManagement activities ahead of rainyseasons in Saint-Louis are restricted tomeetings and gatherings initiated by theregional flood control unit. The meetingsand gatherings are aimed at conducting athorough evaluation of the town’ssecurity arrangements before the firstrainfall. The regional unit can also takesome important decisions regarding the

rehabilitation of dykes and embankments,and the clearing of conduits, etc.

Plans of action ahead of rainy seasonstherefore specify whatever technicalmeasures should be taken regardingsanitation networks, fuel for mobilepumps, sandbags needed to set upmakeshift dykes. The plans of action alsodefine hygiene awareness activities andsocial assistance for flood victims.

Long-term flood management in Saint-Louis gives greater importance to theconstruction of protection structures likedykes and embankments. It is also basedon an emergency flood controlprogramme guided by the Office nationalde l’assainissement du Sénégal (ONAS –Senegal National Office for Sanitation).Some embankment rehabilitation workwas completed on the island under theprogramme, and rainwater sanitationmeasures - such as construction of pumpunits and balancing reservoirs - defined.

Developing a culture of riskBecause of the magnitude of the floodsthat have occurred over the last fewyears, promoting a culture of risk hasbecome relevant within the framework ofprevention programmes to beimplemented by government authoritiesto promote dialogue between all thoseconcerned.

It is not about terrifying local residents, itis about sensitizing them by remindingthem that zero-risk situations do not exist;and that to enable residents to face anypossible disasters adequately, some goodreflexes must be acquired.

However, beyond this matter, the wholeissue is about how to develop such a

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culture of risk in a context that seems tobe characterized by fear and devastation.It would indeed be better that, on onehand, the disaster risk is known, and that,on the other, they could also prepare forits occurrence. Also because no one –government authorities, experts ortechnicians – can assure that absolutesecurity will be there, such preparednessshould not be the sole business ofexperts.

Shifting to culture of risk noteasyIn the light of the above, flood riskmanagement in Saint-Louis should be ashared responsibility. It should also relyon some commitments by all the partiesinvolved or to be involved.

It is clear that shifting to a culture of riskcannot be done without difficulties. Onewould perhaps easily predict thatadaptive behaviours can be expectedfrom those local residents concerned as aresult of the more and more frequentoccurrence of floods. However, thoselocal residents concerned believe thattheir daily behaviours should not bealtered, nor restrictive regulationsenforced, when it happens that the muchfeared events seem to never occur.

In fact, those prevention policies thatseek to sensitize local residents on therisks they are exposed to, and strive afterwinning their support, might come upagainst the above difficulties. Such asituation calls therefore for a betteridentification and analysis of the factorsthat may oppose the advent of a cultureof risk in the region of Saint-Louis.


DISASTER RISK REDUCTION: Enablingcommunities to manage water

Mr. Rowena Hay,Mr. Peter Rogers &Dr. Chris HartnadyUmvoto Africa (Pty) LtdCapetown, South Africa

Water management is essential todisaster risk reduction, say threeSouth African experts. And managingwater “everyone’s responsibility”, notjust that of governments...

Water is life, but its potential to destroylife, the environment and the products ofhuman endeavour is a harsh fact of nature: too much all at once is a mightilydestructive flood; too little for prolongedperiods can culminate in cripplingdrought, famine and mass migration ofpeople away from traditional lands.

Many risks of everyday lifewater-relatedWater is also a receiving environment formany pollutants created by industries,urban living and disease-carrying animals,bacteria and viruses. Many risks ofeveryday life in Africa are water-related.

All too frequently, devastating droughtsaffect large areas of our continent,causing famine, crop and livestock losses.At the other extreme, floods andassociated landslides often create untoldhavoc and destruction. In both cases,socio-economic problems as well ashealth risks ensue.

Africa is particularly at risk because itsgeography exposes much of the continentto extreme weather conditions – fromtropical storms with torrential rains to norain at all for months or even years at atime. These extreme conditions are likelyto increase in frequency and intensity dueto Global Climate Change.

Managing water everyone’sresponsibility

The impact of drought is compounded bymore and more land being stripped of itsnatural vegetation cover - through over-cultivation and over-grazing - toaccommodate a rapidly expandingpopulation. Loss of natural cover andpoor land-use practice also contribute toerosion of topsoil and a reduction in soilnutrients as a result of increased leachingand surface runoff. The end result is aninsidious decline in recharge to thegroundwater aquifers and the silting upof rivers. Africa is challenged to developsustainable, long-term ways and means toreduce humankind’s negative impact onthe environment; and to manage thecontinent’s diminishing water resourcesagainst the backdrop of more extremeclimatic conditions, poor land practicesand a fast-growing population.Managing water is everyone’sresponsibility – not just that of the

government - and enabling communitiesto help themselves is a first step in thisquest.

Water management essential todisaster risk reductionAppreciating the fundamental influenceof water and its proper management is anessential pre-requisite to the developmentof disaster risk reduction measures,especially in Africa with its volatile andunpredictable medium-term weatherpatterns.

Regional plans for long-term sustainabledevelopment, sufficiently robust towithstand the inevitable consequences offlood and drought, require a holisticunderstanding. Pro-active measures tomitigate water-related risks will allowcommunities to limit the impact of theinevitable floods and droughts on their

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environment, and so prevent them fromdeveloping into full-scale disasters.

Despite an emerging awareness atgovernmental level of the risks fromwater-induced disasters, a long record ofpoverty, population growth, lack ofinfrastructure, poor education andineffective management of resourcesmakes many communities increasinglyvulnerable to water-related disasters. Thisproblem is compounded by negativepolitical and economic factors that forcerefugees from disaster areas to migrate tounder-populated marginal areas that, bytheir nature, are more prone to risks offlooding and drought.

Enabling communities to initiaterisk reduction measuresThere is a growing realization of the needto foster a better understanding by thegeneral population of water’s complexrole in their everyday lives.

Understanding causes and consequencesis a fundamental step in enablingcommunities to initiate their own riskreduction measures.

In recognition of this factor, the UN/ISDRis publishing two educational booklets on“Water & Risk in Africa”: one as acommunity leader’s guide and the otherfor schools - to enable them to inculcateawareness in their pupils of water risks.

Much can be done at villagelevelCommunities are not powerless inadopting risk reduction measures to aidtheir coping mechanisms for survivingwater-related disasters. There is muchthat can be done at the village level; ineducating community leaders tounderstand the workings of water, and toaccept that they have the choice,

responsibility, and means to adopt pro-active measures lead to a significantreduction in the risks facing theircommunities.

Empowering communities to become pro-active and make best possible use of ownresources for disaster risk reduction hasan important economic dimension. Thecall on national emergency funds andforeign donors for disaster relief aid islessened, and the relief may be betterused for purposeful medium- to long-termdevelopment in the recovery phase of adisaster. More money may then bechannelled into creating sustainabledevelopment projects and watermanagement schemes, to the overallbenefit of all.

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Three-tier approachAlthough empowering communities is afundamental step in reducing water-related risks, this must be seen as but oneof a three-tier approach which needs tobe adopted by:1. supporting national government

programmes for disaster riskreduction;

2. initiating regional programmes thatencourage the authorities to adopt anholistic approach to watermanagement; and

3. providing local leaders with insightinto the complexities of water-associated risks and the need forprevention and mitigation initiativesat community level.


Drought, governance & social conflict insouthern SomaliaMr. Ali Warsame Nagheye Agro-Meteorology and Food SecurityMinistry of AgricultureSomalia

Somalia… Chaos, civil unrest, poverty,loss of livelihood, wanton loss of life…Ali Warsame Nagheye says these wereaccelerated by lack not only ofmechanisms for conflict transformationbut also of… drought preparedness andmitigation processes.

Located in the Horn of Africa, Somaliahad a population of 8 million dispersed inthe Diaspora all over the world – as aresult of the breakdown of the centralgovernment system and internecine civilatrocities perpetuated by warlords. Thereare, however, unknown numbers stillremaining in the countryside and urbancentres, most of whom are still displacedpersons.

Southern Somalia is a low-lying landslightly above sea level, where the twomajor rivers of Shabelle and Juba play acentral role in the life of its inhabitants.The rainfall is low, erratic and highlyunpredictable, causing floods when itcomes. Due to very high temperatures,evaporation rate is very high, resulting inlow water balance hardly enough for bothplant growth and livestock production.

Massive losses due to droughtevery yearDrought occurrences in the region arefrequent with a short one every threeyears and a long and severe one everyfive years. In spite of the residentcommunities’ evolved survival mechanismto span these droughts, massive lossesare incurred annually in terms oflivelihoods and life.

Over the years and before the breakdownof the Siad Bare government in the late80s, processes initiated to mitigate themassive losses were few and inadequate.However, the people have developedelaborate coping mechanisms such asherd divisions ahead of the drought and,

to a very large extent, these herdsmigrated towards the river to utilizeavailable fodder and water.

Farmer-pastoralist conflictscommon during dry spellsThe Somali population can be classifiedaccording to their livelihoods: they arefarmers (24%), pastoralists (42%) and athird cluster who are fishermen andtraders.

Pastoralists continue to earn their livingby moving their flocks of camels, cattleand goats in an endless search for waterand pasture. Farmers, on the other hand,engage in crop production and are foundwithin the rich alluvial soils of theShabelle and Juba rivers whose water areused for irrigation.

During prolonged drought, pastoralnomads and farmers usually meet alongriver basins where the quest of thepastoralist is water and fodder. In generalterms, the two are not the best of friendsand conflicts are common during dry

spells. Traders and fishermen hardly meetexcept where the traders exchange theirgoods.

During the war, people broke into manyarmy barracks and armed themselves,thereby creating a basis for the atrocitiesthat are all too well known. Most of thoseactively involved in these acts of self-armament were pastoralists. This ispartially due to the highly mobile andmilitarized nature of their life. The farmerswere generally the victims.

Pastoralists invade croppedlands along riverEarlier on, when there was a centralgovernment, the pastoral nomads usedto visit the riverine areas during the dryspell only to access water andhousehold provisions. They could notgenerally settle around the riverineareas due to the high prevalence of tse-tse fly as well as other biting insects.

The government had also decentralizedlivestock husbandry services to them by

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making basic veterinary and other drugshighly accessible and available in thehinterlands.

The loss of a central government and thepresence of illicit arms among the highlymobile people have had a heavy toll onthe farming community who lost boththeir crops and their lives. In the process,the pastoralists invaded cropped landsalong the river, allowing livestock towantonly graze on crops. There was alsoa rural-urban drift where a large body offarming communities moved to displacedpeople’s camps in urban centres.

The interplay of frequent droughts,absence of central government and civilstrife accelerated the breakdown ofpeople’s social and cultural harmony andtheir decline into poverty and increasedinsecurity. The rampant availability andpresence of small arms and light weaponsdeeply aggravated the situation.

Conflicting interestsThe arrival of pastoral nomads on theriverine scene gave rise to a clash ofinterests where the farmer prepares toprotect his crop and the pastoralist readyto die for his flock to access both herbageand water. This stand off is both cyclicaland often results into bloody encounters.

The absence of the independent andregulatory third force that is a centralgovernment merely adds to the infernos.There is also the critical absence ofinitiatives to create public awareness andeducation linked to the developmentpotential of area, as well as localtraditional mechanisms for conflicttransformation.

Breakdown of governance, law &orderThe fall of the Somali central governmentin 1990 meant the breakdown of law andorder with a corresponding increase incrime rate. What was uncommon before(like the ownership of arms byindividuals) became common place,resulting into loss of property right andlife.

When the central coordinating agency(government) was put in abeyance,

people embraced what they new best -the clan lineage system whose centralpole was the chief. of clan -, valuesvaried from one clan to another, and thechasm was even wider betweenlivelihoods. For instance, the farmer hadvalues radically different from that of thepastoralist, and that of the fisherman adinfinitum.

In the ensuing struggle for domination,individual clans formed militias whoarmed themselves from the existing stockof weapons in circulation. In the rank andfile of these militia were people who werefrom the disciplined forces of the formerregime. The effect of the disparate ragtagarmies headed by warlords is all too wellknown and needs no elaboration.

Despite its notoriety as a slow motiongenocide killer, the militia continues tohold sway in the religion, leveragingsupport for individual and narrowinterests.

Social conflictsThe clear effects of drought andbreakdown of law and order mainlymanifested itself in the weakening ofpeople’s socioeconomic wellbeing. Theabsence of drought preparedness andmitigation processes as well asmechanisms for conflict transformationrapidly led to chaos and civil unrest,poverty and loss of livelihood as well aswanton loss of life.

Social conflicts therefore arose mainlyfrom the progressive decline in the rule oflaw, insidious loss of livelihood anderosion of community values leading toan anarchic protocol where individualinterests vie to dominate one another.

Current problems hamperingprogressProblems arising from the abovementioned situations and which arecurrently hampering any progress includethe following:• Local displacement of farming

communities• Low level of food production due to the

migration of farmers to displaced campsin towns and cities

• High level of crime rate in town andcities• Malnutrition of young children and

mothers among displaced peopleWanton destruction of environmentand wildlife

• Destruction of river banks bypastoralists to create easy access ofanimals to the water and, later, thismight change the course of the riverwaters and cause floods to settlementsand farmlands

• Charcoal burning by both farmers andpastoralists to earn living

Grassroots communities’involvement vitalIn the absence of a central regulatingbody to develop policies for soundmanagement, reverse the current trendsand improve production levels, there is aneed to systematize the establishment ofinstitutional structures at zonal level.

Such a measure will address:• Food security in terms both of crop and

animal production.• Drought preparedness, mitigation and

prevention procedures at communitylevel.

• Marketing outlets for both farm andlivestock products.

• Community empowerment andeducation, which will help toinstitutionalize traditional governancesystems for conflict transformation.

This will also help to addressenvironmental issues at the communitylevel and help to re-orientate people’slivelihood pursuits.

The success of all the above initiativesrest upon the involvement of communitymembers at grassroots level, which alsofits closely with the global trends ofdevolution of power.

Local communities’ involvementleverages critical community support andgoodwill which will, in turn, be pivotal tothe desired project success andsustainability.

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African researchers seek to understand vulnerability,resilience of rural livelihoods

Ms. Gina ZiervogelDisaster Mitigation for SustainableLivelihoods ProgrammeUniversity of Cape Town South Africa

A research project seeking to understandthe nature of vulnerability and resilienceof rural livelihoods of communities hasbeen launched in three areas in threesouthern African countries - Malawi,Zambia and South Africa. The threeselected areas are repeatedly exposed tofood insecurity, the impact of HIV/AIDSand other recurrent threats.

Named UNRAVEL (UnderstandingResilient And Vulnerable Livelihoods),the project secretariat is based at theUniversity of Cape Town, DisasterMitigation for Sustainable LivelihoodsProgramme, which is collaborating withthe Climate Systems Analysis Group andthe Interdisciplinary MPhil Programme onHIV+ and Society. In Malawi, Cadecom,Chikwawa, Caritas, Malawi and MalawiHealth Equity Network are involved. InSouth Africa, it is the University ofVenda, Department of Advanced NursingScience and NPHRAI NGO. In Zambia,the Diocese of Monze and the Network ofZambian People Living with HIV/AIDSare coordinating the research.

Fragile food securityincreasingly worsened byclimate variabilityRural households in southern Africa livewith a host of uncertainties on theirlivelihood security, living with high levelsof “everyday risk”. These factors singly,sequentially and cumulatively increasehousehold susceptibility to shocks andstresses, and thus place household well-being at risk to threats such as HIV, aswell as vulnerability to AIDS impacts.Households, whose livelihood foodsecurity is heavily dependent onagriculture - either directly throughcultivation, or indirectly through seasonallabour and piece-work - are particularlyvulnerable to the impact of climatevariability, as well as market forces.

In the southern areas of Malawi andZambia as well as Limpopo Province ofSouth Africa, climate variability hasreflected itself in “back-to-back” floodand drought conditions, exacerbatingincreasingly fragile conditions of foodsecurity.

HIV, household food security“inextricably linked”It is now recognized that HIV andhousehold food security are inextricablylinked. Compromised family healthincreases household food insecurity,while insecure food and livelihoodsecurity increases the likelihood ofexposure to HIV and vulnerability toAIDS impacts.

While imaginative epidemiological andaction research has begun to identifybroad risk patterns and relationshipsbetween HIV and food/livelihoodsecurity, there is a pressing need forfurther study to identify specificconditions that face at–risk and HIV-affected people.

Similarly, it is critical to identify livelihoodpatterns among at-risk and affectedindividuals and households that buildresistance and resilience to expectedshocks and stresses.

Such understanding is central for bettertargeting community prevention andmitigation programmes that, on one hand,address a broad suite of potential risks,but, on the other, are sufficientlydifferentiated to sensitively respond tospecific household needs and priorities.

Which type of livelihood makespeople vulnerable to AIDSimpacts…The UNRAVEL research project which, asalready mentioned, seeks to understandthe nature of vulnerability and resilienceof rural livelihoods of the communities,will be supported by : (1) documentingthe multiple shocks and stressors facingat-risk and affected households; (2)monitoring the ways in which theseshocks and stressors are dealt with both

positively and negatively at present, andhow these might be better supported.This will help to assess the type oflivelihood systems that make people andhouseholds particularly vulnerable orresilient to the impact of AIDS.

It is expected that the research will help toclarify the dynamics of rural livelihoodsand the role of food security - particularlyfor AIDS-impacted households. It willalso highlight how households cope withthe small stresses and large shocks theyare exposed to. This is critical forsupporting rural livelihoods, as perhaps ithelps in dealing with small stresses that isas important as dealing with large shocks.The details of what helps households -particularly those impacted by AIDS - tosurvive in the most sustainable manner isa key piece of information that could helpwith programming and further livelihoodsupport.

Findings to be incorporated into care,development, academic programmesThere will be an emphasis on distributingthe knowledge generated by the researchto the districts where research is takingplace. The research team, together withthe group undertaking advocacyactivities, will develop strategies tointegrate relevant findings into ongoinghome-based care and food securityprogrammes or other livelihoodenhancement activities in theparticipating communities (includingagroforestry and conservation farming).An effort will be made to support thedissemination of knowledge gained fromthe research into policy and practice ofthe implementing agencies.

In consultation with the research teamand country Renewal networks, theadvocacy team will develop country-appropriate strategies for disseminatingknowledge generated by the research.These include engagement with the localprint and electronic media, writtenaccessible advocacy materials and theincorporation of key findings into formalacademic programmes on disaster riskreduction and HIV/AIDS and Society.

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ObjectivesIdentify and document “everyday” threats and other sudden onset and “creeping” threats faced by different at-risk and affectedhouseholds during the course of a full agricultural cycle (12 months) in three comparative settings in Malawi, Zambia and LimpopoProvince of South Africa.

Identify and document the livelihood responses of individuals and households to such risks and the consequences of this action forhousehold and community well-being. Specific attention will be given to identifying gender differences in livelihood responses,especially as these apply to women and teenage girls.

Identify, where possible, those livelihood strategies associated with greater household resilience to AIDS impacts, and those whichincrease vulnerability to AIDS losses.

Identify, where possible, community and institutional mechanisms that either undermine or augment at-risk livelihoods assets,capabilities and activities.

Feedback the knowledge generated by the research to better sensitise ongoing home-based care and food security programmes orother livelihood enhancement in the participating communities.

Support the dissemination of knowledge gained from the research into policy and practice through partner networks as well ascountry and regional Renewal networks and its incorporation into formal academic programmes on disaster risk reduction and HIV/AIDS and Society.

MethodologyIn each research site, a primary fieldworker/researcher will be employed full-time to undertake the work. There will be an effort toengage local stakeholder support from existing home-based care groups and HIV+ community members.One village from each country has been chosen in Chikwawa District, Malawi, in the Diocese of Monze, Zambia, and in VhembeDistrict, South Africa. The villages have been selected in consultation with local stakeholders involved in HIV/AIDS-related work inthe areas. Within each village, twenty (20) households have been selected. They comprise, where possible:

Ten (10) households where there is a chronically sick member or where a family member has recently died from a chronicsickness;Ten (10) households that appear not to be directly impacted by HIV/AIDS in the sense that there are no chronically sickmembers and no one has recently died from a chronic illness.

The baseline data is being collected using a survey that includes basic livelihood data such as demographic background ofhousehold members, information on livelihoods, crops and production, livestock and other assets, livelihood strategies and dietaryrequirements. A section on shocks and stresses experienced within the household exists to document the nature and response toshocks and stresses. Part of the baseline monitoring includes a village perspective that involves participatory mapping by thecommunity to identify both social and physical characteristics as perceived by the villagers themselves.

Each of the identified households will be visited once every two months for the duration of the year for ongoing monitoring. Theseconsultations will aim at gathering in-depth information about the “small, medium and large-scale shocks and stresses” to whichhouseholds are exposed, their respective response strategies and consequences for resistance and resilience. This will take intoconsideration the impacts of seasonality, including that of climate and labour opportunities. The role of gender and support forfemale and child-headed households will be examined. The role that cash plays in mediating the risk conditions of poor householdswill be incorporated, recognizing that elderly South Africans are eligible to pension, and poor families entitled to child grants.

Particular attention will be given to ensuring consultation with households in the selected communities so that the research is not anextractive undertaking, but a knowledge-sharing and generating opportunity for those involved.

Outputs• A comprehensive research report will be produced. It will include information on the risks faced by different at-risk and

affected households during the course of a full agricultural cycle (12 months).• Livelihood strategies associated with greater household resilience to AIDS impacts, and those that increase vulnerability to

AIDS losses will be documented. This will be complemented by the information gathered from non-AIDS impacted householdsto consider which households appear more resistant to shocks and stresses and which appear more susceptible to negativeimpacts.

• Community and institutional mechanisms that either undermine or augment at-risk livelihood assets, capabilities and activitieswill be identified.

• The report will be supported by two academic refereed papers.

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Understanding Resilient and Vulnerable Livelihoods


MOZAMBIQUE: Maputo, a geo-environmentalhazard prone cityDr. Isidro R. Manuel & Dr. Enoque M.Vicente,Department of Geology, Eduardo MondlaneUniversity, MaputoMozambique

The Mozambican floods of the year2000 were a world news event.Relatively little known was the factthat the capital city, Maputo, was alsostrongly affected. And that Maputoinfact is a geo-environmentalhazardprone city.

Geohazards are earth processes that areharmful to humans and their property.Over the last decades, geo-hazards aremore reported in the world because thesociety is more environmentallyconscious and has better communicationsthan ever before.

Another reason is that Earth’s expandingpopulation creates higher vulnerability toharmful geological processes.

Most Mozambican cities,villages vulnerableThis is the case of most Mozambicancities and villages which, due to theirpopulation growth and deficient land useplanning, lead to the occurrence ofcoastal and gullying erosion, landslidesand floods.

Maputo, the capital city of Mozambique,is a geo-environmental hazard prone citydue to its location in the coast, thegeological characteristics, populationdensity and inadequate land useplanning.

Maputo is a coastal city located in thesouthern part of the country between thecoordinates 25º 50´ and 26º 10´ S and 32º30´and 32º 40´ E. It has a population of1,018,938 inhabitants with a density of1,700 inhabitants/sq. km. The populationdensity is nearly five times more than itsprojection and this was caused mainly by

human migration during the 1976-1992civil war looking for security.

The rapid population growth caused anincrease demand for land. The rising ofland use pressure was not accompaniedby the best practices of urban land useplanning taking to the occurrence of geo-environmental problems. The main geo-environmental problems of Maputo arelandslides and slope instability, gullyingand coastal erosion and flooding.

Maputo prone to geo-hazardsMaputo City is prone to the occurrenceof geo-hazards. The main geo-environmental events are landslides,gullying and coastal erosion andflooding.

Landslide is a general term for perceptivedownslope movement of soil or rock.Landslides hazard refers to theprobability of a landslide of a given sizeoccur within a specified period of timewithin a particular area (Bell, 1998).

Gullying erosion occur mainly in dunesand deposits prone to surface erosionby water. Maputo City is surrounded onits eastern and southern sides by a longslope 20 to 50 m high, which limits the

beach and Maputo estuary. The overallslope angle is between 20 and 40 degrees.The landslide and gullying events areconcentrated on this slope. The gulliesare deeply cut 1 to 15 m and very steepwith side slopes generally up to 60degrees but locally steeper (Fig. 1). Tensof these gullies are observed in theoutskirts of Maputo City.

Causes of landslides, slopeinstability, gullying erosionA combination of natural andanthropogenic factors lead to theoccurrence of landslides and slopeinstability, and gullying hazards inMaputo City (Manuel & Vicente, 2003).In Maputo City were identified threenatural causes of landslide and gullying:pluviometric precipitation, topographyand geologic characteristics.

Pluviometric precipitation. The landslideand gullying hazard in Maputo City ismainly related to unusual, intense andshort-lived rainstorm which occurred inFebruary 2000 where a precipitation of 400mm was registered in four days. This is farbeyond 132 mm which is the averagemonthly precipitation during rainyseasons (October-March). This rain

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saturated the soil slope and the watercaused movement. Water promotesmovement in two ways: as an activeagent, it increases the loading (weight) ofsoil by filling previously empty pores;water also decreases the strength of thesoil by reducing cohesion amongparticles (Coch, 1995). The soil saturationresulted in landslides and slopeinstability as well as deeply and steeplygullying failures.

Topography (Gravity). Topography isone of the main factors controlling massmovement. It is known that the steeperthe slope, the greater is the tendency ofmaterials to move downward. Thetopography determines also watervelocity on the slope, which, in its turn,determines the size and quantity ofmaterials transported downward. InMaputo City, the topography developedan important role in landslide andgullying erosion. According to thetopographic map of Maputo, there is atopographic difference of up to 49 mbetween the beach/estuary areas with theupland. This altitude difference,according to the geologic sheet ofMaputo, constitutes an inferred fault. Thetopographic difference and the slopeangle have contributed to landslide andgullying hazard in Maputo City.

Geologic characteristics. Landslidesand gullying erosion occur on the slopeon Ponta Vermelha Formation. Thisformation is composed by ferruginoussandstones and red silty sand gradingdown into yellow to white sand.According to the geology of the area andgeotechnical characteristics, the soilsshould allow easy infiltration of water tolower layers. However, due to the lowcohesion of soils and with heavy rainfall,the water saturates the soils anddecreases their strength, causingmovement due to the influence of gravity.

Urbanization. The main identifiedanthropogenic cause of landslide andgullying is urbanization. Urbanization indune sand area reduces the infiltrationand percolation area, which changes thelag times in the hydrographs. Duringurbanization, vegetation is removed and

surfaces are paved. Paving preventswater from sinking into the ground, so agreater volume of water runs off fasterover the surface into the sea (Coch, 1995).These changes caused by urbanizationshorten the lag time and increases peakdischarge, thus increasing the risk offlooding. Rapid urbanization is notsupported with a good drainage systemto collect storm water. As the water runsoff faster in the surface (unconsolidatedsands), it erodes and transports soilsdownward the Maputo Bay. Combinationof factors like soil characteristics andurbanization have made landslides andgullying hazards occur.

Coastal erosion. The coastline aroundMaputo City is dynamic due to shifting ofsand or its removal from low-lying beachby longshore currents. It has moved tensof meters inland in the last decades andshows clear signs of coastal erosion. Thesigns are uncovered roots of trees andbroken retaining walls.

The main causes of coastal erosionproblems in Maputo are sea level risingand inadequate use of beaches.

Flood-prone areas. Some areas ofMaputo City have geologicalcharacteristics that allow wateraccumulation, namely swamp areas andsandy surface layers underlined byclayey layers with low permeability.These clayey layers underneath thesandy layers make water infiltrationnearly impossible.

These areas have been used asresidential areas since the colonial time.The flooding problem is increasing due topopulation growth during the 1976-1992Civil War and over-occupation of landand lack of land use planning. The flood-prone areas are mainly informalsettlements.

Flash floods also occur downtown ofMaputo City due to bad or lack ofdrainage system, or absence ofmaintenance.

ImpactGeo-environmental hazards have anadverse socio-economic impact on the

population. For example, the Mozambicanfloods of 2000, that affected also Maputo,set back the fragile economic progressmade over a decade.

The main effects that occurred in MaputoCity from the described geohazards are:• Destruction of houses and

subsidence of higher buildings• Destruction of basic infrastructures

(roads, drainage and sewagesystems, water supply sources)

• Collapse of waste collecting anddisposal systems

• Marked increase of the incidence ofdiseases such as malaria, diarrhoeaand cholera

• Deposition of sediments on basicinfrastructures (football grounds,schools)

• Deposition of red sediments on thebeach area

• Displacement of hundreds of families,mainly hardcore poor people;

Challenges, way forwardTo solve the problems caused by geo-environmental hazards in Maputo City,integrating physical and socio-economicmeasures is needed.

A better urban land use planning,properly maintained and regularlyserviced storm drainage systems,enforced legislation and institutionalframeworks would prevent the occurrenceof geo-environmental hazards in MaputoCity.

Prevention and management ofgeohazards must be supported byresearch on disaster risk reduction. Oneof the most important tools of disasterrisk reduction is the development of riskand hazard maps. Maputo City does nothave these maps.

Topics which could be included to meetthe needs of Maputo town planners - inaddition to basic general geology - arethe geological characteristics of soils,foundation conditions, landslides andslope instability, steepness of slopes,depth to rock head, hydrogeologicconditions, depth to water table,

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susceptibility to flooding, etc. Each ofthese aspects can be presented as aseparate theme on a basic or element map.

Another important element is thedevelopment of emergency plans for thecases of occurrence of disasters.

The disaster risk reduction should also beintegrated in poverty alleviation policiesbecause hardcore poor people are themost affected by geo-environmentalhazards in Maputo City.

REFERENCES:- Bell, F. G. 1998. Environmental Geology:

Principles and Practice. BlackwellScience Ltd. Oxford, U.K.

- Coch, N. K. 1995. Geohazards: Naturaland Human. Prentice Hall, New Jersey,U.S.A.

- Manuel, I. R. & Vicente, E. M. 2003.Landslide Hazard in Maputo City: ACombination of Natural andAnthropogenic Factors. AfricaGeoscience Review. Vol. 9, Number 4,413-418 pp.

- Momade, F. J; Ferrara, M. & Oliveira, J. T.1996. Notícia Explicativa da CartaGeológica 2432 D3 Maputo: Escala 1/50.000. DNG, Maputo, Mozambique.

For more information, please contact:Isidro R. Manuel at: [email protected] M. Vicente at: [email protected] at Department of Geology, EduardoMondlane University, PO Box 257, Maputo,Mozambique

Climate change adaptation & disaster risk reduction

David LesolleMeteorologistGaborone, Botswana

Both climate change adaptation anddisaster risk reduction seek toimprove resilience. David Lesollesays climate change adaptation willbasically ask what will happen if wego there? but the other importantquestion – where do we want to go?- is asked by the disaster riskreduction strategy…

The number of people at risk to climate-related disasters have increasedparticularly in Africa. There is also anoticeable increase in the number ofextreme weather events ranging fromshort-lived flash floods to large-scaledroughts.

Weather-related disasters are a result ofextreme variability in the natural climate.Every time our lives and existence arethreatened by a heat wave, a flood, astorm with strong winds, we becomevulnerable because the weather or climateextreme is beyond our expectation.

More extreme events expectedUnder global warming and climatechange, there will be more occurrences ofextreme weather and climate. It is as aresult of global warming and climatechange that we continue to witness

increased climate-related hazards thatfrequently result in disasters.At ecosystem level, climatic changes arelargely being displayed as changes inintensity of hydro-meteorological hazardssuch as floods, landslides, drought, aswell as changes in species resilience,composition, etc.

Climate-related natural disasters alsofrequently negatively impact on foodsecurity, health and other core socio-economic functions.

Emergence of disasterreduction in 90sThe 1990s saw a growing appreciation ofthe need to link development gains andlosses to disaster risk reduction (DRR). Afirst significant step was the declarationof the 1990s as the “InternationalDecade for Natural Disaster Reduction”(IDNDR).

Furthermore, the Yokohama Strategy andPlan (for a Safer World) saw the need topromote prevention as an important andessential component of an integratedapproach to disaster risk reduction.

In the second millennium, the WorldSummit on Sustainable Development(WSSD) (Johannesburg, South Africa,2002) highlighted further disaster riskmanagement as key to achieving povertyeradication, social development andsustainable development.

Opportunities, actions leadingto improved resilienceThere are many opportunities and actionsthat would lead to improved resilienceand improved coping abilities to weather-related hazards. This may be achievedthrough:• Strengthening of capacity of communities in managing and coping with weather-related disasters.• Mainstreaming disaster risk reduction into developmental planning within communities and at individual level.• Improved understanding of the problem leading to heightened vulnerability and applying best practices in disaster prevention, mitigation and rehabilitation and adaptation.

Climate change adaptation,DRR both seek to improveresilienceThere are similarities in the way in whichconcepts are applied to climate changeadaptation and disaster risk reduction. Inboth, the main objective is to reduceimpact and mitigate or identifyopportunities for adapting. Therefore,both aim to improve resilience to poverty,famine, socio-economic stress, etc., andin this way also aim to improve copingability.

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It is important to improve ourunderstanding of how and when it is bestto adapt. This will lessen our vulnerabilityto weather extremes and reduce the risk ofa disaster.

There is a need to formulate adaptationstrategies, enhance early warningsystems and make sure the early warningsystems communicate clear informationon time, develop disaster hazardreduction strategies and build adaptivecapacities.

We need to focus on and promote thelinks between poverty, weather disasters,environment and sustainabledevelopment. One necessary step is to

couple the institutional arrangementsassigned to these tasks. Weather-relatedhazards and disaster reduction must beconsidered simultaneously.

Integrating climate changeadaptation, DRR strategiesKey components to achieving climatechange adaptation and disaster reductionare: (1) climate change detection, (2)identification of adaptation options fordisaster reduction.

The task of integrating climate changeadaptation and disaster risk reductionstrategies must call for restructuring ofexisting activities and developmental

programmes. Vulnerability of localcommunities and ecosystems to globalwarming and climate change, and alsotherefore the communities’ coping ability,must be assessed.

Once the vulnerability assessment hasbeen undertaken, it will also be necessaryto undertake an assessment of the abilityto cope or adaptation capacity. Theadaptation assessment must identify andevaluate technologies, practices andpolicy options necessary to increasecoping capacity.

Climatic change adaptation, DRRshare common challenges,objectivesThe challenges for disaster risk reductionand those for adapting to global warmingand resultant climatic changes are similarand the two share common objectives ofpoverty reduction, improved livelihoodsand environmental sustainability.

While climate change adaptation willbasically ask the question – what willhappen if we go there? The otherimportant question – where do we wantto go? - is asked by the disaster riskreduction strategy. The latter questionemphasises on a socio-economic goal.It remains important to ensure thatdisaster risk management is mainstreamedinto the development process. A majorachievement will be improved resilience,enhanced coping abilities, a reducedimpact of climatic changes and a positivecontribution to socio-economicdevelopment, including reduced povertylevels.

Views and Reviews


Flood and debris flow disasterin AlgiersProf. Djillali BenouarFaculty of Civile EngineeringUSTHBAlgier, Algeria

Over 700 people dead, 312 othersinjured, 116 missing, some 10,000homeless - in a single… day. In Algiers.On 10 November 2001. Algerianuniversity lecturer and urban disasterrisk expert Djillali Benouar hasconducted a piece of research work onthe flood and debris flow disaster...

AbstractExceptionally heavy rainfall (about 262mm in 24 hours) and strong winds (120km/h) hit central Algiers (capital ofAlgeria) on 10 November 2001, leavingmore than 714 people dead and at least312 others injured. 116 people werereported missing and some 10,000 othershomeless, and more than 1,500 housingunits were damaged. Victims had beenburied under 2.5 to 10-metre thick mud inTriolet and the rubble of collapsed homes- hit by falling trees and power lines - ordied by drowning in the streets. Morethan 350 vehicles (cars and buses) wereburied under the mud with theirpassengers. Around one million cubicmeters of mud were removed from thecentral Algiers district of Bab El Oued.The hard-hit zone is located at the foot ofa 306-metre high hill. Most heavilydamaged districts were those of Bab elOued, Frais Vallon, Triolet (market stalls)and Oued Koriche which were submergedby torrents and mud and debris flowswhich washed everything on their waydown to the sea. The present researchwork presents the damage, discusses thecauses of the disaster, and suggestssome preventive measures that should beimplemented before the next disasterstrikes.

IntroductionAlgiers, the capital of Algeria, and itsimmediate surroundings have a totalpopulation of approximately four million.Algiers represents the country’s mostimportant concentration of investments,government institutions and population.In recent years, disaster risks haveincreased there due to overcrowding,faulty land use planning and buildingconstruction, inadequate infrastructureand services, and environmentaldegradation. Algiers’ topography,waterfront location and oldneighbourhoods (casbah) make it difficultto enforce radical solutions to most of itsproblems.

Also, because of the present pace andpatterns of rural-to-urban migration andunplanned urbanisation which leads toincreased population density in urbancentres, especially Algiers, such areashave become increasingly vulnerable.Decision-makers need adequate

information on the possible intensity ofdisasters likely to be faced by cities ifthey are to reduce disaster vulnerability.

The official assessment of the 10November 2001 disaster in Algiers is verysignificant : 712 people dead; 115 peoplereported missing; 311 others injured;more than 1,500 families homeless; 350light and other vehicles destroyed orburied; significant damage oninfrastructures (roads, crater of over 10-metre diameter, damaged sanitationnetworks, silting of streets, etc.),buildings and houses (due to landslide,erosion and pressures on buildingfoundations and structural elements,etc.).

Physical settingBab El Oued. The affected zone of Bab ElOued, with its neighbourhoods, is madeup of several basin catchments receivingall the rains on a dense hydrographic

Figure 1 : Distribution of various oueds in the affected zone

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network made up of a significant numberof affluents or thalwegs which, whenconverging, constitute the oued (smallrivers in Arabic) itself. In Algiers, thereare about 11 oueds threatening this partof the capital and all of them meet in BabEl Oued (“Door of the river” in Arabic), asshown in Figure 1.

The catchment area of Oued Koriche.Oued Koriche, which has its source inOued Ben Lezzehai on the southern sideof Mount Bouzareah at an altitude of 395metres, is in a 10-square-kilometre basin.The main talweg is 7-kilometre long. Thehydrographic network consists of 4oueds, tributaries, to some extent, ofOued Koriche which is under left bankbasins. The 10-square-kilometrecatchment area of Oued Koriche is bothcompact and very sloping (maximumaltitude of 395 m and minimum altitude of1 m) which favours fast water drainage.The main oued, on which is built theChevalley-Triolet express motorway,collects all the waters of the flanks and is7-kilometre long. Urbanization hasreached the two slopes over the last fewyears, causing deforestation. Because ofthe torrential rains, the top soil waswashed away by debris flows, whichgenerated real mud torrents. The rightbank slope was almost entirely urbanizedand built.

Meteorological aspects of theeventIn the evening of 9 November 2001,heavy rains and strong winds affectedseveral areas of northern and westernAlgeria, causing a disaster situation oflarge proportions, with considerable lossof human lives and huge propertydamage. Rainfall observed on 9 and 10November 2001 in the urban part ofAlgiers was exceptional.

Observations from weather stations in theaffected zone indicated exceptionallylarge quantities (in 24 hours) that hadnever been observed since the stationbecame operational 100 years ago. In fact,the observations were made at threeweather observation stations in theaffected zone: those of Bouzareah on theheights of the town of Algiers at analtitude of 344 metres, Cape Caxine (23 maway from the Bouzareah station), and

the port of Algiers at an altitude of 3metres. The following amounts of rainfallwere observed:

Floods, debris flows andlandslidesOn Wednesday 14 November, rescueworkers reported that their gruelling workwas hampered by lack of access to theaffected areas in the densely populateddistrict, where many roads were stillblocked by huge amount of debris andmud. Bulldozers (graders) and othervehicles that could get access tried to digthrough 3 to 10 metres of mud and debris.Health teams were dispatched to theaffected site to check the quality ofdrinking water and prevent outbreaks ofwater-borne diseases.

The public authorities were fearing thatputrefying corpses buried under the mudcould increase health risks.

The flooding at Frais Vallon lasted 1h45mn. At Triolet, water levels reached2.45 m and a speed of 6.47 m/sec and theflooding lasted more than 2 hours. InOued Koriche, where all the watersaccumulated and had a very high flowrate, water levels reached a maximum of2.45 m at a maximum flow rate of 730 m3/sec and a contribution of 2,600,000 m3.Some 800,000 m3 of debris were - roughly -estimated to have been washed away bywaters.

Damage causedSevere damage was inflicted on roads,housing, schools, ports, bridges, vehiclesand lifelines. In the worst hitneighbourhoods of Algiers, water,

electricity and gas supplies weredisrupted.

Many people were also washed away bywater currents in the flooded streetswhich were acting as rivers. In Bab ElOued, 61.5 % of the total number ofdwellings appraised by experts weredamaged. Bab El Oued was the mostaffected district in terms of damage. Thisis due to the density of the habitat (oftendecayed) and its geographical location.

Housing units classified by the expertevaluation as “Green” of level 1 (thosethat suffered no damage) account forapproximately 7 %, that is 65 housingunits out of 896. As the number of “Green1” housing units was negligible and withno significant effect on the findings, oneshould focus only on housing unitswhich suffered damage, namely thoseclassified as “Green 2”, “Orange” and“Red”. In Bab el Oued District, almost of 1out of 5 (18.9 %) housing units of thebuilding apartment stock was damaged.

The number of housing units demolishedwas 543 units, which is comparable withthat of “slightly damaged” housing units.Regarding “Red” housing units, theirnumber in Bab El Oued District alone wasequal to that of all the other affecteddistricts put together.

Dwellings classified as “Orange” in BabEl Oued District accounted for 57.8 %(1,531 units), while in the other affecteddistricts, their total number did not reach10 % of the building appartment stock(exclusive of Rais Hamidou District whereit was 10.7 %).

STATION ALTITUDE RAINFALL (in mm)

From 06h00 on 9 November to 06h00 on 10 November

From 06h00 to 18h00 on 10 November

From 06h00 to 18h00

From 18h00 to 06h00

From 06h00 to 12h00

From 12h00 to 06h00

Bouzareah

344

129.2

132.4

Cape Caxine

23

0

262.2

262.2

Port

3

26.9

72.0

109.0

109.0

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It emerges from the statistics that thenumber of “Hard” dwellings classified as“Red” in Bab El Oued was 542 units,against 193 in the 5 other affecteddistricts. Inversely, all the “Precarious”dwellings classified as “Red” was foundonly in the 5 districts. First estimates ofthe damage in the city of Algiers indicatean amount of some 50 billion Algeriandinars (0.67 billion US dollars).

Causes of disasterA disaster of such a magnitude cannothave a single cause. It is definitely theresult of several failures. First is lack ofwarning systems. This can be confirmedby the list of human casualties: most ofthem were not residents of the affectedzones, they were non-residents. Asignificant number of the casualties wereresidents of other affected zones whocame for work or school purposes. It isclear that if a warning system had beenavailable, it would have definitely made itpossible to reduce the number ofcasualties considerably.

Then comes the exceptionally heavyrainfall. However, it is not so much the211 mm of rainfall in 36 hours (245 mm in48 hours) as such but the peaks in termsof rainfall intensity which may explainwhat occurred. To these peaks in rainfallintensity never observed since 1935(according to the Office national de lamétéorologie, ONM - National

Meteorology Department) should beadded the steep slopes of the affectedzone’s topography. It is also clear that thepoor state of the various sewage andsanitation systems worsened thesituation, but certainly not as much aswhat the press and the public claimed.Indeed, if the sewage and sanitationsystems did not function properly asexpected, it was most probably becausetheir condition deteriorated sharply afterthe first heavy rainfall.

Already affected by the exceptionallyheavy rains, their capacity was weakenedconsiderably by various solid elementswashed away by waters, and whichblocked them (soil heaps and rubbles ofall kinds, including a good amount left bypeople, excavated materials, buildingmaterials, refuse from demolition work,soil eroded through deforestation,remains of vehicles, of trucks, of buses,trees, power lines, electricity poles, slidescaused by powerful waters).

Mud also played an aggravating role. Soilheaps torn off on the ground transformedwaters into debris flows, thus multiplyingapproximately by two their voluminalweight, and increasing its impact on thevarious obstacles on their way. Anotherfactor is the chaotic urbanizationprevailing in the affected zone as a resultof the local government’s passivenessand laxness: citizens could and can justbuild any structure anywhere.

Disaster management duringthe eventThe main bodies involved in disasterresponse were the National CivilProtection, the Army, the Red CrescentSociety, health and sanitationdepartments and the security forces. Thecivil society also played a direct and vitalrole in rescue operations and in providingtemporary shelters to those affected bythe disaster.

The head of the government charged thegovernor of Algiers with the supervisionof relief operations in the affected zone.However, the governor seemed to havebeen overwhelmed by the magnitude ofthe event (casualties and damage) andthe resource deployment that he couldnot control.

As a result, lack of synchronizationemerged during the relief operations,followed by total confusion lasting morethan 10 days after the event. Lack ofcoordination also prevailed among reliefteams: as a result of different ordersreceived from different decision-makers,they took conflicting actions. It was totalchaos which affected people could notunderstand and tolerate.

Despite the impressive deployment ofresources by the National CivilProtection, the security services, the armyand various government ministries, themanagement of a disaster – which thegovernor of Algiers was charged with -was characterized by blatant inefficiency.

The Army, which had been present in theaffected zone since the afternoon of 10November, mobilized more than 2,000 menequipped with heavy vehicles and toolsto clear the streets of debris and reopenthem. As 30 school buildings were turnedinto accommodation facilities forhomeless families, more than 637 familieswere accommodated at school buildingsof Bab El Oued and Bouzareahcommunes. It is to be noted that 24school buildings were also damagedseriously.

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Conclusions andrecommendationsEven though debris flows have causedserious disasters in several mountainareas around the world, they are not fullyunderstood yet and predicting them isnot possible yet. Detailed research andstudies are still required at various placesand under different conditions.

Even though the main factor that causedthe Algiers disaster was climatic –exceptionally heavy rainfall of highintensity, there were several othercontributing factors, some of which wereunavoidable, but some others could havebeen, to some extent, controlled orforeseen. The main factors at the origin ofthe seriousness of the 10 November 2001Algiers floods and debris flows in theresidential area of Bab El Oued can beattributed to the four following mainreasons, among others:

• Powerful and sporadic torrential rainson high-lying parts of the area;

• Presence of sloping sites with novegetation cover and seriously alteredby self-improvised builders;

• Chaotic urbanization (urbanized ouedbeds);

• Inoperative water drainage (poorly-maintained sewage systems).

Expert evaluation of the affected zoneindicates 4,278 damaged housing units,including 3,421 classified as “Red” or“Orange”. 80 % of structures termed“hard” account for 7.8 % (3,325 units) andare mostly in Bab El Oued District thatwas the most severely affected not onlybecause of its geographic location in theentire zone but also of the condition of itsbuilding stock.

Precarious habitat was affected in theother affected districts, but in Bab ElOued it was the old structures, decayedand poorly maintained, which sufferedthe most from the bad weather of 10November 2001. It would be appropriateto stress that it is not the intensity of thebad weather that caused all the damage, itis the structures’ general condition anddistrict location.

To avoid disasters of this magnitude inthe future, it is important that steps aretaken to ensure that structures are lessvulnerable and that residents are warnedof the situation by, for instance:• Undertaking vulnerability assessment

of existing structures and, whennecessary, repairing and reinforcingthem;

• Establishing a maintenance policy forstructures of public interest;

• Establishing a framework ofregulations to encourage privateowners to invest in propertymaintenance;

• Enforcing town planning andconstruction codes;

• Establishing a national strategy formajor risk management through apermanent body integrated in thegovernment apparatus.

References• Bahlouli, M. (2001), Les inondations du

10 Novembre 2001 à Alger, RapportANRH, Alger.• Benouar, D. (2001), Visits to the

disaster-affected zone in Algiers.• D. Benouar, M. Chabaat, Proposition de

création d’une agence nationale derecherche et de gestion descatastrophes naturelles en Algérie,2° Rencontre en Génie parasismiquedes pays méditerranéens (SISMICA99), Faro (Portugal), 28-30 Octobre1999.

• Brunsden, D. (1979), Mass Movements,Process in Geomorphology, by Embleton

• C., Thornes J., London, pp. 130 - 186186.

• Gecotec (2002), Retour sur unecatastrophe, Le Contrôleur TechniqueNo.25.

• Innes, J. L. (1983), Debris Flows,Progress, Physical Geography, 7, pp.469-501.

• Maurer, G. (1975), Les mouvements demasses dans l’évolution des versantsdes régions telliennes et rifainesd’Afrique du Nord, Actes du symposiumsur les versants en pays méditerranéens,Aix-en-Provence, CEGERM, vol. V, pp.133-137.

• O.N.M. (2001), Situation météorologiqueexceptionnelle sur le Nord Algérie durantles 09 et 10 Novembre 2001, Rapportpréliminaire (Office National de lamétéorologie), Alger, 30 novembre 2001.

• Thapa, K.B. (2001), Water-InducedDisasters in the Himalaya, in LandslideHazard Mitigation in the Hindu Kush –Himalaya, Editors : L. Tianchi, S. R. Chaliseand B. N. Upreti.

• The Press (El-Khabar, Liberté, El-Moudjahid, El-Watan, Le Matin,L’Expression, La Tribune), 11 November to12 December 2001.

For more information, please contact:

Prof Djillali Benouar,Faculty of Civil Engineering, USTHB,BP 32 El-Alia, Bab Ezzouar, Alger 16111, AlgeriaE-mail : [email protected]

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UN/ISDR Africa National Platform

DJIBOUTI: Experts, ISDR platform membersdiscuss use of climate informationMr. Ahmed Mohamed MadarISDR Focal pointRepublic of Djibouti

A workshop on the « Creation andApplication of Climate Information,Products and Services for DisasterPreparedness and SustainableDevelopment » took place in Djibouti on17 February. The workshop was organizedjointly by the Meteorology Department ofDjibouti International Airport and theInterior and Decentralization Ministry’sDisaster Management Unit.

Among many participants were thepermanent secretary in the InteriorMinistry ; the head of the MeteorologyDivision, Mr Osman Saad Said; thedirector of the Interior Ministry’s DisasterManagement Unit and nationalcoordinator of the UN/ISDR NationalPlatform, Mr Ahmed Mohamed Madar;and members of the UN/ISDR nationalplatform.

The workshop was funded entirely byUSAID and the World MeteorologicalOrganization, WMO.

Use of climate information,products in various fieldsDuring the workshop, national expertsbriefed participants on variousconsultations made in the fields ofagriculture, natural disaster managementand prevention, climate and health, and therole of the media.

Addressing the workshop, Mr Osman SaadSaid, head of the Meteorology Division,thanked the Djibouti government, IGAD(Inter-Governmental Authority onDevelopment – a sub-regional organizationwhose members are Eastern African andHorn of Africa countries) and DroughtMonitoring Center – Nairobi (DMCN – now

renamed IGAD Climate Prediction andApplication Centre, ICPAC).

Mr Osman Saad Said went on to say thatthe workshop was first and foremost aplatform for national experts to express anddemonstrate their use of meteorological andclimate information in their respectivesectors of activity for disaster preparednessand management.

Meteorological activities dateback to … 1901For its part, the Djibouti MeteorologyDepartment (of Djibouti InternationalAirport) informed the participants that thefirst meteorological activities in the countrytook place in 1901, adding that the nationalweather monitoring network of « localinterest » was made up of 5 stationsscattered all over the country in 1948.

Records available at the MeteorologyDepartment show that the data weregathered by civil servants in non-coastaldistricts, army personnel and, sometimes,civilian volunteers (offered smallallowances). However, today, thanks to theDjibouti International Airport, the DjiboutiMeteorology Department has been able tomake some improvements – at the expenseof other sectors of application such asagriculture, hydrology, livestock breeding,health, etc.

It emerged from the workshop that theDjibouti Meteorology Department playedan important role by providing all themeteorological products available in thecountry, namely sea weather forecasts,climatological analyses and seasonalforecasts.

Mr Osman Saad Said, head of the Meteorology Division, Djibouti



COMOROS: ISDR national platform established

UN/ISDR AfricaNairobi,Kenya

Volcanic eruption has been feared inthe Comoros since September 2003. AUN team was dispatched. The teamurged the establishment of a nationalplatform for disaster reduction. UN/ISDR Africa steps in…

A national workshop on “NationalCapacity Building for DisasterManagement and the Establishment of aUN/ISDR National Platform” took place

MADAGASCAR: ISDR National Platformcontributes to cyclone damage rehabilitation

UN/ISDR Africa, Nairobi-Kenya

Madagascar’s newly-formed UN/ISDRNational Platform has embarked on cyclonedamage rehabilitation work followingexceptionally serious cyclone damageexperienced by the Indian Ocean island off theMozambican coast.

In late January/early February and earlyMarch this year, cyclone-prone Madagascarwas again hit, this time by two successivecyclones. UN/OCHA (Office for theCoordination of Humanitarian Affairs) saidthat in addition to economic losses and othermaterial damage, cyclone Elita had left 29people dead, 100 others injured and over44,000 homeless from 26 January 4 February2004; and cyclone Gafilo had left 74 peopledead and over 700,000 others affected on 7March 2004.

Initially, the main objectives of the ISDRNational Platform, established in mid-July2003 under the name of Plate-forme nationaledes intervenants en gestion des risques et descatastrophes (National Platform for DisasterRisk and Disaster Management), PNIGRC,did not include disaster rehabilitation.However, the seriousness of the damagecaused by the two recent cyclones promptedthe platform members to take action.

Platform member CARE-Madagascar is, forinstance, dealing with rehabilitation work(roads, government buildings, healthinfrastructures) in eastern Madagascar.Another platform member, CRS (CatholicRelief Services), is also active in the northernand western parts of the country. TheAgriculture Ministry, also a member of theNational Platform, is conducting a survey/evaluation of cyclone damage on agriculture.

UN/ISDR National Platform members are stillholding weekly meetings to see “who shall dowhat” and develop cyclone-related projectproposals to be submitted to donors.

Meanwhile, prompted by the exceptionallyhuge cyclone damage, the Office of thePresident (also a member of ISDR NationalPlatform) is examining the rapid establishmentof the Bureau national de gestion des risqueset des catastrophes (National Office forDisaster Risk and Disaster Management),BNGRC2, in line with the country’s DisasterRisk Management Act voted unanimously byParliament in mid July 2003.

“The current Malagasy leadership takesdisaster risk management very seriously. Itreally seeks to enforce - fully - the country’sNational Strategy for Disaster RiskManagement, especially in the light of the

current cyclone damage,” said Mrs GinaRakotoarimanana, UN/ISDR’s focal point inthe country.

On the current move to establish the Bureaunational de gestion des risques et descatastrophes (National Office for DisasterRisk and Disaster Management), the ISDRNational Platform asked the Office of thePresident to organize a one-day brainstormingsession with all stakeholders to discuss theissue, before a final decision is taken.

It is to be noted that in a single year - in 2003,Madagascar developed a National Strategy forDisaster Risk Management, a DisasterManagement Act, a National Plan for DisasterRisk Management and an ISDR NationalPlatform.

Madagascar is also one of the first Africancountries to have incorporated disaster riskmanagement into their Poverty StrategyReduction Papers.1

2 The BNGRC shall be “the permanent focal point for thecoordination of programmes and activities related to disasterpreparedness, prevention, response and reconstruction”. Twoother structures shall also be established : the Conseil nationalpour la gestion des risques et des catastrophes (National Councilfor Disaster Risk and Disaster Management) and the Cellule descrises (Crisis Unit).

in the Comoran capital, Moroni, on 4 and5 December 2003.

On the basis of a consensus reachedduring a previous UN mission to theComoros, the workshop was organized bythe UN System with the technical andfinancial support of UN/ISDR Africa.

The workshop was attended by 35participants from the central government,authorities of the autonomous islands,the civil society, the private sector andothers operating in the field of disastercoordination, prevention and

management in various areas of thepublic and private sectors.

The previous UN mission, requested bythe Comoran government and made up ofOCHA (UN Office for the Coordination ofHumanitarian Affairs) and WFP (WorldFood Programme) officials, had visitedthe country from 7 to 14 September 2003.It emerged from the UN mission that aUN/ISDR national platform had to beestablished as a focal point for disasterrisk management coordination in thecountry.



Volcanic eruption impending…It is to be noted that seismic crises, whichhad occurred since January 2003, reachedtheir climax in August-September 2003,announcing, in some way, that a volcaniceruption was impending. This promptedthe Comoran Ministry of Defence andTerritorial Security to also seek theestablishment of a UN/ISDR nationalplatform for disaster reduction in acountry that moreover is a disaster-proneone.

Indeed, Comoran nationals haveexperienced disasters caused bycyclones, threats of volcanic eruption byKarthala volcano and epidemics since thecountry’s independence in 1975. Thedisasters had considerable impact onpeople’s lives and livelihoods and on analready weak economy.

As the Comoran government, the above-mentioned UN mission and local NGOswere keen on working together andpromote a synergy to enhance disastermanagement in the country, UN/ISDRAfrica resolved to join the joint efforts.Hence the holding of the 4-5 December2003 national workshop and theestablishment of a UN/ISDR nationalworkshop during that workshop.

Objectives of workshop,Comoros-UN effortsThe objectives of the ongoing jointefforts by the UN System and theComoran government are to help theComoran government to improve itscapacity and skills in (1) disasterreduction coordination, (2) the provisionof the necessary disaster managementskills and knowledge, (3) networking withvarious institutions involved on disastermanagement.

The overall objective of the 4-5 December2003 national workshop was tostrengthen national capacities and skillsin disaster prevention and response onone hand, and coordination on the other.

The workshop began with formalspeeches (see Box for Comoran defenceminister’s closing speech), followed by anumber of presentations. The firstpresentation, made by Mr Hamidou Souleof Karthala Observatory, was on the

“Current Situation of Natural Hazards,Disasters and Risks in the Comoros”. Thesecond presentation, made by MajSalimou Mohamed Amiri, was on the« Current State of, Existing Difficulties ofand Future Challenges for RiskManagement in the Comoros ». The thirdand last presentation, made by Mrs NoroRakotondrandria of UN/ISDR Africa(based in Nairobi), was on the“International Strategy for DisasterReduction” (ISDR).

The presentations were followed bydiscussions on existing gaps in disasterrisk management in the the country andits causes.

RecommendationsAt the end of the two-day proceedings,the participants issued the followingrecommendations on disaster managementin general:

• To establish relevant institutions andan appropriate legalframework immediately: setting up aNational Disaster ManagementCouncil.

• To develop a good nationalprevention policy covering relevantstructures to be put in place.

• To introduce natural disasterawareness in school curricula fromprimary level; and resort to themuftiship, other religious structuresand NIT (New InformationTechnologies) for natural disasterawareness among adults.

• To identify local potential andstrengthen prevention, reception andhandling capacities. To optimize armyoperations, using it for civilprotection.

• To identify existing sectoral studies,update and supplement them.

• To create or strengthen regional andinternational partnership, and call forinternational cooperation to enhanceinfrastructures.

It is to be noted that the participants alsomade recommendations for four types ofdisaster (classical, biological, geophysicaland meteorological disasters).

Participants of the workshop



Your Excellency Mister the President of the Union of theComoros,Honourable Vice-Presidents of the Union of the Comoros,Honourable Ministers,Your Grace the Grand Mufti,Dear Representatives of the Diplomatic Corps and InternationalOrganizations,Dear Representative of the United Nations System,Dear Representative of the Africa Office of the UN InternationalStrategy for Disaster Reduction,Dear Representatives of the Civil Society and NGOs,

Dear participants,

Ladies and Gentlemen,You have been focusing for two days on Civil Protectionwhich, as a subject, is both important and fascinating.

I remember that on 2 July this year, many of you worked hard atthis same venue, the National People’s Representation, on thefuture of the defence and security of our country, of our peopleand of their property. You discussed lengthily and thoroughlyon a range of issues relating to the defence and security of theUnion of the Comoros. And you reached the followingconclusion : that the present time is critical because after 28years of independence – with its ups and downs, the Comoranpeople have resolved to provide the State apparatus with a newinstitutional framework. You will surely agree with me that sucha new institutional framework will definitely have an impact oneach aspect of the country’s institutional life.

You also requested for all institutions stipulated in the newComoran Constitution to be put in place with no further delay.And you also expressed concern about the responsibilities, orrather the kingly duties and missions of the State: that thesecarrying out these duties and missions should not be delayednor questioned, especially when questioning or discussinglengthily about them happen just to be rather fruitless.

These duties and missions I am referring to are about thedefence of our common borders. These duties and missions fallvery clearly under the sovereignty of the State and the securityof our territory, and, as far as my Ministry is concerned, theprotection of our people against natural disasters.

National Workshopon National capacity building for disaster managementand the establishment of a UN/ISDR National Platform

4-5 December 2003, Moroni, Comoros

Closing speech bythe Minister of Defence and Territorial Security, Mr. Hama Mmadi Bolero

and Chairman of the National Relief Coordination of the Union of the Comoros

This workshop, which we will close within the next fewminutes, is only the implementation of some proposalssubmitted to the Government by the above-mentioned July2003 Seminar participants. And these proposals, theGovernment handed them over, without any delay, to thePresident of the Republic.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

So, to give concrete expression to these proposals, the Headof State gave us strict instructions to contact our partners.Then the United Nations System in the Comoros respondedpositively to our request for the holding of a nationalworkshop on national capacity building for natural disastermanagement.

During the present workshop, commission proceedings haveenabled the participants to observe that time has come to holdvery serious discussions about Civil Protection. CommissionN° 1 discussed on “How to prevent and prepare againstnatural disasters”, and Commission N° 2 on “How to manageor coordinate resources so that a natural disaster situation canbe handled and our people and their property protected”.

To prevent and prepare against natural disasters of theclassical type – like transport accidents and oil spills,biological ones like cholera epidemics, hydrometeorologicalones like drought, fire, cyclone and flood, and geophysicalones like volcanic eruption, Commission N° 1 first of allidentified the following shortcomings and failures : lack ofappropriate legal framework, lack of sound and comprehensivesensitisation and information channels, and lack of materialand human resources.

Commission N° 1 believes, and no one will deny it, that ourcountry’s nearly permanent instability, antiquated legal textsand the fact that we do not have a general prevention strategyand policy are crucial factors, if not the main causes of today’salarming situation.

To address and eradicate these shortcomings, the Commissionsuggests “some urgent actions for the sake of an increasinglyeffective disaster management”, urgent actions aimed atadapting and updating some legal texts and turn them into acomprehensive and permanent institutional framework;

To be continued next page


developing an efficient information and sensitisation policyinvolving considerably the media so that the entire population,throughout the entire territory, is covered ; taking villagecommunities’ participation into account and strengthening it -as they are the first concerned – to enable them to handlesome preliminary situations and inform professional reliefoperatives without any delay; evaluating existing means; andstrengthening human, material and institutional capacities.


Let us agree with Commission N° 1 that the first component ofnatural disaster prevention and preparedness is surely thedevelopment of a good national prevention policy withappropriate legal structures. The duties of such structureswould be to develop a realistic coordination plan that matchesavailable resources and strengthen our partnership at regionaland international levels.

Last but not least, Commission N° 1 did not fail to stress theurgent need for close and sincere cooperation between theNational Directorate of Civil Protection and all the otherstructures already put in place - for instance, in the fightagainst major disease epidemics or cyclone prevention -, as isalready the case with the National Directorate of Meteorology.

Such cooperation will already enable those directly in chargeto locate those areas that are likely to be affected by naturaldisasters, and also establish their characteristics. Such areaswould be, for example, Anjouan and Moheli islands for floods,or Grande-Comore island for volcanic eruption and drought.

To these recommendations can be added the development of acoherent town planning and habitat policy against

Handing over ceremony of the workshop’s recommendation to thePresident of the Union of Comoros, Mr. Azali Assoumani (on the right)

by the Minister of Defence and Internal Security, Mr. Hama MmadiBolero (on the left)

overcrowding which, in case of fire, practically preventsfrom reaching some homes.

Commission N° 2, for its part, examined the issue ofestablishing a National Platform for Natural DisasterReduction. It is to be noted that the two Commissionsidentified the same factors to explain the shortcomings weare experiencing in the country in the field of naturaldisaster prevention and management.

For Commission N° 2, lack of sensitisation inspired by localtraditions is an element to be considered when developing anational platform. Also, because of lack of human resourcesand a disorganised administration, the country has, for along time, come within a hair’s breadth of disaster - until theannouncement of the innocently wrong alert of the Karthalavolcanic eruption.

And discussing about the main components for thedevelopment of a national platform, Commission N° 2arrived at some conclusions and recommended a number ofurgent actions: that the new institutional framework beestablished and implemented fully; that disaster reductionawareness be introduced in school curricula - from primarylevel ; that religious leaders be actively involved inawareness raising activities ; that New InformationTechnologies be used ; that local potential and ways tostrengthen prevention, reception and handling capacities beidentified ; and that army operations be optimised in linewith Civil Protection. All these actions will definitelyenhance our natural disaster prevention and managementcapacities.

This can also be supplemented by the establishment of aNational Council for Natural Disaster Management whoseduty is to coordinate the work of local networks of medicaldoctors, rescuers, relief assistance structures, etc.


Your report will be handed over immediately to the Head ofState under the patronage of whom this workshop has beenorganized. And formal contacts will be made with ourpartners, especially the United Nations System to whom wewish to express our warm thanks for its active cooperation.The Ministry of Defence and Territorial Security, for its part,will submit to the Government a package of proposals thatmatch your recommendations.

Before ending my address, I wish to thank the participantsfor the excellent work done. I also wish to thank the entireinternational community, especially the United NationsSystem, for their priceless contribution.

Now, Ladies and Gentlemen, I wish to declare theproceedings of this first workshop on capacity building fornatural disaster management closed. Thank you for yourattention.


Mr. Koffi AnnanSecretary General

United Nations

THE UN SECRETARY-GENERALMESSAGE FOR THE WORLD WATER DAY

22 March 2004

This year’s observance of World Water Day also marks the publication of Guidelines for reducing flood losses. A manualand menu of options for decision-makers, the guidelines are a joint effort of the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, theNational Weather Service of the United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the UN International Strategy forDisaster Reduction, the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific and the World Meteorological Organization,with support from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation. They are also meant to contribute to the discussions at thenext World Conference on Disaster Reduction to be held at Kobe-Hyogo, Japan in January 2005. I commend them to all interestedactors.

Beyond water-related disaster reduction issues, the international community has taken other steps to face global waterproblems. In the year 2000, Heads of State pledged to stop the unsustainable exploitation of water resources by developing watermanagement strategies that promote equitable access and adequate supplies. At the World Summit on Sustainable Development in2002, world leaders agreed to develop integrated water resources management and water efficiency plans by 2005.

The international response to current world water challenges contains much admirable effort, but for the most part it hasbeen inadequate. If we are to achieve the Millennium Development Goal of halving, by 2015, the proportion of people who are unableto reach or to afford safe drinking water, we will need to make 270,000 new water connections per day. The requirements for meetingthe sanitation goal are even more formidable. This is not to demean the dedicated efforts being made by a number of governmentsand thousands of civil society groups, but rather to demonstrate the urgent need to go beyond business as usual.

With that in mind, I have decided to establish an Advisory Board on Water and Sanitation. To be chaired by Former PrimeMinister Ryutaro Hashimoto, the Board will also include a wide range of eminent persons, technical experts, and other individualswith proven experience in inspiring people, moving the machinery of government, and working with the media, the private sector andcivil society. I have asked the Board to use the unique expertise of its members to raise awareness of water and sanitation issues, tohelp mobilize funds for water and sanitation projects, and to encourage new partnerships.

Water is central to our hopes of eradicating poverty and achieving sustainable development. On World Water day, let usrenew our efforts to give water issues the attention they deserve, now and over the long term.

The theme of this year’s observance of World Water Day is “Water andDisasters: Be informed and be prepared”. Water-related disasters – including floods,droughts, hurricanes, typhoons and tropical cyclones – inflict a terrible toll on humanlife and property, affecting millions of people and provoking crippling economiclosses. As ever, it is the poor and vulnerable who are most adversely affected, but aswe saw in Central Europe in 2002, even industrialized nations can suffer immensely.However much we would wish to think of these as strictly natural disasters, humanactivities play a significant role in increasing risk and vulnerability. And of course,there are also strictly man-made disasters, such as oil-spills and toxic run-off, that dogreat damage to our precious water resources.

Modern society has distinct advantages over those civilizations of the pastthat suffered or even collapsed for reasons linked to water. We have great knowledge,and the capacity to disperse that knowledge to the remotest places on earth. We arealso the beneficiaries of scientific leaps that have improved weather forecasting,agricultural practices, natural resources management, and disaster prevention,preparedness and management. New technologies will continue to provide thebackbone of our efforts. But only a rational and informed political, social and culturalresponse — and public participation in all stages of the disaster management cycle —can reduce disaster vulnerability, and ensure that hazards do not turn intounmanageable disasters.

2004 World Water Day



ZIMBABWE: “UN Guidelines for Reducing Floods”launched in HarareR. A. ValencyEditorISDR Informs - Africa

The “UN Guidelines for Reducing FloodLosses” was launched in the Zimbabweancapital, Harare, on 22 March.

Harare was one of four cities - with NewYork, Geneva and Bangkok - and the onlyone in Africa where the launch took place.

The launch of the publication coincidedwith worldwide celebrations of WorldWater Day which, this year, specificallyfocused on water and disasters.

The Guidelines, which are made up ofthree books, are a result of a series ofconsultations led by the UN Departmentof Economic and Social Affairs (DESA)and the US National Oceanic andAtmospheric Administration (NOAA),drawing on the experience of variouspartners, experts and contributors.

During the same function, UN/ISDRAfrica also launched two educationalbooklets entitled “Water and Risk inAfrica – A Guide for Community Leaders”and “Water and Risk in Africa – A SchoolGuide”.

In his address during the launch of theUN publication, Zimbabwean DeputyMinister of Rural Resources and WaterDevelopment Mr Tinos Rusere said it wasan honour for Zimbabwe to be selectedfor the launch (see Mr Tinos Rusere’s fullspeech on page 35).

In her address, UN/ISDR AfricaProgramme Officer Mrs NoroRakotondrandria said Harare had beenselected (1) because Zimbabwe was, in

Africa, one of the countries affected bydrought and floods; (2) because disastersare often a matter of life and death, andtherefore they just call for humansolidarity; and (3) because a regionalinstitution called “Drought MonitoringCentre”, DMC, was based in Harare.In fact, the launching ceremony wasorganized by DMC with assistance fromUN/ISDR Africa.

After the launching ceremony, aworkshop aimed at developing a nationalstrategy for flood management was held,during which the “UN Guidelines forReducing Flood Losses” were alsodiscussed.

The launch was the leading news item inZimbabwe’s state-owned TV’s eveningbulletin the same day.


This year’s World Water Day theme,“Water and Disasters: Be Informed andBe Prepared”, highlights a veryimportant issue in Zimbabwe at themoment.

Zimbabwe has suffered some of the worstdroughts ever in its history particularly inthe past decade. These disasters haveimpacted on us as a nation economically,socially and have caused great damage tothe environment. Agriculture, thebackbone of our economy dependsheavily on water and any losses in cropyields or livestock production are a blowto the economy. The ripple effects ofdrought are immense and affect even thelocal retailers who supply farmers. Theenvironment has been at great risk fromdrought. Plants, animals and theirhabitats, and air and water quality, are allaffected by drought. Land can becomedegraded and the soil eroded. Droughtsalso have an impact over human kindsocially as they tend to lead to conflictamong water users and migration, aspeople flee drought to find areas withmore food and water.

Fresh in our minds from the current mediareports are the floods that have beenpredicted in Muzarabani and theLowvield area. Floods have threatenedhuman life and property and have costthe nation billions of dollars in repairsand disaster management. In recentyears, Cyclone Eline caused severedamage in the Chipinge and Muzarabaniareas. A combination of dry spells andsevere floods, which led to a disruptionof farming activities between 1999 and2001, left Southern Africa with meager

food reserves resulting in several of theregion’s countries being faced with foodshortages.

It is important therefore, to improve ourearly warning systems that combinepredictions of weather with water-relatedevents paving way for a truly integratedapproach. Forecasting also needs to bea co-operative multi-disciplinary effort.The many issues involved mean thathydrologists, meteorologists, rural andurban planners and the Civil ProtectionUnit have to join forces to use availableintegrated methods and technologies inflood and drought forecasting and

warning. It is also important to utilizecomputer models, remote informationabout the weather and environment, andin this regard, academic institutions playan important role.

Other forms of water-related disastersinclude industrial accidents. These canbe accidental discharges of concentratedchemicals or mixtures of chemicals andwater. Some of the discharges can bedeliberate. Such discharges affect thewater quality downstream. One of theprime preventive measures against thiskind of pollution is a strong legalframework governing safety and the

WORLD WATER DAY 2004HARARE, ZIMBABWE

SPEECH BY THE DEPUTY MINISTERMINISTRY OF RURAL RESOURCES AND WATER

DEVELOPMENT

Mr. Tinos Rusere, Deputy Minister, Ministry of Rural Resources and WaterDevelopment and Mrs. Noroarisoa Rakotondrandria (UN/ISDR Africa) during the

launching of UN guildelines on Floods Management and UN/ISDR Africa’s bookletson Water and Risk (for community leaders and school chidren)



capacity to monitor their magnitude,duration, timing and location and on theother, assessing and reducing ourvulnerability to them. Tacklingvulnerability is the real key to reducingrisk.

I am happy to note that in this workshopwe have several Government ministersrepresented. We also have the ZimbabweNational Water Authority, the CivilProtection Unit, several NGOs working indisaster management and water issues,officials from SADC Drought MonitoringCenter and academic institutions. Suchrepresentation sets a good platform fordiscussing the development of disastermanagement strategies, as there arediverse skills and experiences.

I would like to thank the United NationsInternational Strategy for DisasterReduction Africa office who have comeover all the way from Nairobi to launch 3books with guidelines for reducing floodlosses. These books are also beinglaunched by the U.N. simultaneously inGeneva, New York and Bangkok, on theoccasion of World Water Day, 22 March2004. This means that Harare is one ofthe 4 cities of the world and the only onein Africa where this launch is taking place,which is indeed an honour. These bookswill go a long way in improving ourplanning and as vital sources ofinformation on water-related disastermanagement.

I would also like to thank the ZimbabweChapter of the Global Water Partnership,the SADC Drought Monitoring Centre,and the Zimbabwe National WaterAuthority for organizing this workshop inconjunction with my Ministry. We doappreciate this support and we lookforward to future collaboration.

Finally, I would also want to thank theUnited Nations International Strategy forDisaster Reduction Africa office and theZimbabwe Chapter of the Global WaterPartnership for funding the workshop.

Thank you all for coming and we lookforward to mitigating water-relateddisasters in a more coordinated way.


punishment of offenders. Planning ofpreventive measures should involve anumber of players including the police,the Civil Protection Unit, public healthofficials, environmental professionals andthe media.

Climate change is a monumentalchallenge to human adaptability. Shifts inglobal climate may have triggered some ofthe extreme weather we are nowexperiencing such as more frequent andsevere floods and droughts. It isimportant in this regard therefore todevelop an integrated approach inunderstanding these trends and help inreducing disasters.

As we commemorate this day, it isimportant for everyone to realize theimportance of preparedness in dealingwith disasters. As a nation we shouldlook into planning ahead in terms ofmanaging disasters and into planningahead in terms of managing disasters andinto issues of food security. Of note,countries in the SADC region havedeveloped an early warning system,

which monitors the crop and foodsituation and issues alerts during periodsof impending crisis. It is important for usas a country to also strengthen suchnetworks, as they can be the backbonefor disaster contingency planning andcoordinated plans for dealing withdisasters.

I am reliably informed that this meeting islooking at spearheading the developmentof disaster management strategies, whichare aimed at reducing the vulnerabilityand exposure of human beings to thesedisasters. Such strategies shouldencourage better coordination ofactivities from different players. In thecase of drought, these strategies shouldlook into basic water managementstrategies. These plans should alsoencourage improved water efficiency. Itis important to have drought mitigationmeasures and relief, as these will minimizethe impact on production systems andlivelihoods.

Reducing the risk of water-related hazardsmeans, on the one hand, developing our


2004 Sasakawa Award

United NationsSasakawa Awardfor Disaster Reduction

Selection Process 2004

Closing date fornominations18 August 2004Provided through an endowment from theNippon Foundation to the United Nations

For more information please visit:www.unisdr.org - www.eird.org -www.unisdrafrica.org

17th

Join us in rewarding individuals and institutionsfrom around the world who contributed,through innovative practices and outstandinginitiatives, to reducing the risk andvulnerabilities of communities to natural

hazards !


2004 Sasakawa Award

The United Nations Sasakawa Award for Disaster Reduction is worth approximately US$ 50,000 to be shared among the SasakawaLaureate and recipients of Certificates of Distinction and of Merit. It is presented annually on the occasion of the International Dayfor Disaster Reduction, every second Wednesday of October. The Sasakawa Ceremony will be held this year on Wednesday 13October 2004.

Eligibility for the AwardThe candidate shall have distinguished herself/himself through outstanding and internationally recognized action in the followingfields:a) The implementation, at international or regional level, of activities designed to strengthen people’s awareness of natural disasters;b) The launching of scientific activities contributing to technological innovation facilitating disaster prediction;c) The launching of scientific or social activities contributing to the strengthening of disaster prevention and preparedness;d) The promotion of preventative activities which reduce the economic impact of disasters and contribute to sustainabledevelopment;e) Any other activities recognized as essential in promoting disaster prevention and mitigation (land-use planning, seismic riskreduction, awareness-raising, education etc..)The candidate shall not be subjected to any kind of discrimination on the grounds of nationality, religion, race, sex or age.

No candidate may nominate herself/himself. Past recipients cannot be renominated.

Nomination of Candidates for the AwardProposals shall be made to the Administrator of the Award, who will submit them to the Jury, together with his/her comments. TheAdministrator may seek independent reports on the work carried out by candidates for the Award, which shall be submitted, whenappropriate, by the Administrator for the consideration of the Jury.Once nominated, candidates are requested to provide a Power Point presentation in English (10-15 minutes) with details of their workand contribution to reducing risk and vulnerability to natural and technological hazards.

Selection of the Laureate(s) and recipients of CertificatesAn international Jury, composed by experts from different continents, will vote in a private meeting, on the basis of well-definedcriteria, to identify and select the Laureate of the UN Sasakawa Award for Disaster Reduction. Since 1998, Certificates of Distinctionand Certificates of Merit have been created to reward valuable contributions to disaster reduction. The Jury may however decide notto designate any laureate, if it so wishes. The current Jury is composed by representatives from each of the following regions: Africa,Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, Europe and Oceania.

Nomination FormsOnce nominated, candidates should complete the attached nomination form for the 17th UN Sasakawa Award forDisaster Reduction 2003, and forward it by 18 August 2004 together with the requested detailed information in supportof the nomination, to the ISDR Secretariat.

Nominations of candidates can be made by the…1. Former Sasakawa Award Laureates;2. Representatives of institutions specializing in disaster reduction;3. UN specialized agencies;4. Resident Coordinators of the UN System;5. Permanent Missions to the United Nations Offices in New York, Geneva and Vienna.

Please note that applications received after the deadline will not be considered.

All nomination forms should be sent to:Inter-Agency Secretariat of the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UN/ISDR)Administrator of the UN Sasakawa Award for Disaster ReductionPalais des Nations, 8-14 Avenue de la Paix, CH-1211 Geneva 10Tel: (+41).(0)22. 917.27.86 / Fax: (+41).(0)22. 917.05.63 / E-mail: [email protected]: www.unisdr.org - www.eird.org - www.unisdrafrica.org


2004 Sasakawa Award

17th United Nations Sasakawa Award for Disaster Reduction

Nomination Form 2004

No candidate may nominate herself / himselfPast recipients cannot be renominated

PART I: FOR INDIVIDUALS (please attach a Curriculum Vitae)Name:_____________________________________________________________

Address:_____________________________________________________________

Nationality:_____________________________________________________________

Date and place of birth:___________________________________________________

Gender: ___Female ___ Male

Qualifications: Give details in chronological order, starting with the most recent qualification

Date: Institution: Qualifications obtained:

_________ _____________________________ __________________________________

_________ _____________________________ __________________________________

Present position:_____________________________________________________________

Current job description:________________________________________________________

Previous positions held (in chronological order, starting with the first position held)

Date Position held and mandate:

___________ _____________________________________________________________

___________ _____________________________________________________________

PART II: FOR INSTITUTIONS / ORGANIZATIONS ( Please give succinct information)Name and address of Headquarters:_____________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________

Date of Creation:_____________________________________________________________

Main fields of activity:__________________________________________________________

Size and structure (if applicable):_________________________________________________

Optional: Funding (annual budget and sources of income):_____________________________

_____________________________________________________________

Name and title of chief executive officer:

_____________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________

PART III: SPECIAL ACHIEVEMENTSPlease give details of outstanding innovative work in the field of disaster reduction and mitigation which would qualify the

candidate for the Award, in particular with regard to:

Section 1: General disaster reduction activities carried out to reduce the socio economic impact of disasters and to contribute to

sustainable development:

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________Section 2: The implementation, at the international or regional level, of activities designed to strengthen peoples’ awareness ofnatural disasters:


2005 World Conference on Disaster Reduction

_____________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________

Section 3: Achievements in disaster reduction and mitigation in developing countries (if any):_____________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________

Section 4: The introduction of scientific activities and any technological innovation contributing to improved disaster forecasting:_____________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________

Section 5: The promotion of social activities contributing to the strengthening of disaster reduction and mitigation:_____________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________

Section 6: Other activities recognized as essential in promoting disaster reduction and mitigation:_____________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________

PART IV: PROPOSAL FOR THE USE OF THE AWARD MONEYPlease give details on the use to be made of the Award money for further development, improvement and promotion of disasterreduction activities:_____________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________

A questionnaire on the use of the Award money will be sent around to all Sasakawa Laureates to evaluate to what extent thisfinancial assistance has contributed to implementing the disaster reduction activities planned under this item, and facilitated theadvancement of a global culture of prevention.

PART V: DOCUMENTATIONPlease list and attach supporting documents and information material relating to the work carried out in disaster reduction, suchas constitution, charter, membership list, including sample of types of litterature published, last annual reports and press articles- To facilitate the consideration of the nomination by the Jury, please kindly provide as much as possible information in English._____________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________

PART VI: REFERENCESPlease list three persons /institutions who are familiar with your activities:Full Name Full address Business or occupation1)__________________ _______________ ______________________2) __________________ _______________ ______________________3)__________________ _______________ ______________________

Separate nomination papers respecting the above format withcomprehensive and detailed information will be accepted.

Submitted by:__________________________________________________Date of submission:_____________________________________________Date of receipt by ISDR:_________________________________________

Deadline for submission: 18 August 2004Please note that applications received after the deadline will not be considered

Inter-Agency Secretariat of the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UN/ISDR)Administrator of the UN Sasakawa Award for Disaster ReductionPalais des Nations, 8-14 Avenue de la Paix, CH-1211 Geneva 10

Tel: (+41).(0)22. 917.27.86 / Fax: (+41).(0)22. 917.05.63 / E-mail: [email protected]: www.unisdr.org - www.eird.org - www.unisdrafrica.org



First Announcement

World Conference onDisaster Reduction

18-22 January 2005Kobe, Hyogo, Japan

A safer world for all

A milestone event to

increase the international profile of disaster risk reduction

promote integration of disaster risk reduction intodevelopment planning and practice

strengthen local and national capacities to address the causes of disasters that continue to devastate andimpede the development of many countries.

A set of specific goals, activities and policy measures for implementation 2005-2015 will be presented for consideration and adoption, drawing on a review of thepast decade’s progress with the Yokohama Strategy and Plan of Action for a SaferWorld that was adopted at the first world conference on the subject held atYokohama, May 1994, during the International Decade for Natural DisasterReduction (IDNDR)



Why the World Conferenceon Disaster Reduction?While commitment to the reduction of disasters has been growing –demonstrated through several existing international initiatives,agreements and declarations – actual materialization is still slow. Disasterimpacts are increasing and remain a major obstacle to development. Newrisks are emerging. In some cases development itself is contributing togrowing risks.

A detailed review of the achievements, gaps and critical challengesfacing the international community since the adoption of the YokohamaStrategy and Plan of Action of 1994 is presently underway, withnumerous international, national and local policies, initiatives, scientificand technical achievements demonstrating the feasibility and worth ofinvestment in risk reduction. Emerging issues and opportunities relatedto environmental and climate change, pandemics such as HIV/AIDS,gender balance and education are also coming to the fore of publicattention.

Much remains however to be done to coordinate and strengthen furtherthese movements and integrate them into effective national policies.A shift in focus from relief to sustainable development is occurring. Thecurrent situation calls for an international meeting that brings togetherlocal, national and international policymakers active in social andeconomic development and environmental management issues, disasterrisk managers and practitioners, as well as civil society and communitygroups. The conclusion of the Yokohama review coinciding with the 10thAnniversary of the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake in addition to theGovernment of Japan’s offer to host the Conference in the city of Kobe-Hyogo, provides the ideal occasion and setting for the event.

The World Conference on Disaster Reduction is expected to motivate andguide governments and their policymakers to pay more attention,identifying practical and concrete ways to incorporate disaster riskreduction into poverty reduction.

The Conference will build on the findings of the review of implementationof the Yokohama Strategy and Plan of Action, aiming at:

• Assessing achievements and identifying good practices since itsadoption in 1994;

• Defining the remaining challenges, critical needs and opportunities indisaster reduction initiatives worldwide, and to examine emergingissues;

• Developing elements for an articulated programme for disaster riskreduction to implement the relevant Millennium Development Goals(MDGs) and objectives of the Johannesburg Plan of Implementationfor sustainable development.

The Conference will also raise awareness of the urgency to focus on thevulnerable, taking into account community needs to address disasterrisk, as well as emphasize policy development and action at global,regional, national and local levels for the development of a culture ofprevention.

Objectives of WCDRThe UN General Assembly adopted resolution A/RES/58/214 on 23 December 2003, stating the Conferenceobjectives as follows:

(a) To conclude and report on the review of theYokohama Strategy and its Plan of Action, with aview to updating the guiding framework ondisaster reduction for the twenty-first century;

(b) To identify specific activities aimed at ensuring theimplementation of relevant provisions of theJohannesburg Plan of Implementation of theWorld Summit on Sustainable Development1 onvulnerability, risk assessment and disastermanagement;

(c) To share best practices and lessons learned tofurther disaster reduction within the context ofattaining sustainable development, and to identifygaps and challenges;

Expected outcome ofthe Conference• Increased awareness, recognition and political

endorsement for implementing of disaster riskreduction and mobilizing local, national andinternational resources.

• Clearer directions and priorities for action atinternational, regional, national and local levels toensure implementation of the International Strategyfor Disaster Reduction and to support theachievement of the Millennium Development Goalsand the objectives of the Johannesburg Plan ofImplementation2.



Yokohama Strategy and Plan of Action

The ‘Yokohama Strategy and Plan of Action for a Safer World’ was adopted at the World Conference on NaturalDisaster Reduction (May 1994, Yokohama, Japan), as the main outcome of the mid-term review of theInternational Decade of Natural Disaster Reduction (IDNDR).

Principles of the Yokohama Strategy1. Risk assessment is a required step for the adoption of adequate and successful disaster reduction

policies and measures.

2. Disaster prevention and preparedness are of primary importance in reducing the need for disasterrelief.

3. Disaster prevention and preparedness should be considered integral aspects of development policyand planning at national, regional, bilateral, multilateral and international levels.

4. The development and strengthening of capacities to prevent, reduce and mitigate disasters is a toppriority area.

5. Early warnings of impending disasters and their effective dissemination using telecommunications,including broadcast services, are key factors to successful disaster prevention and preparedness.

6. Preventive measures are most effective when they involve participation at all levels, from the localcommunity through the national government to the regional and international level.

7. Vulnerability can be reduced by the application of proper design and patterns of development focusedon target groups, by appropriate education and training of the whole community.

8. The international community accepts the need to share the necessary technology to prevent, reduceand mitigate disaster; this should be made freely available and in a timely manner as an integral part oftechnical cooperation.

9. Environmental protection as a component of sustainable development consistent with povertyalleviation is imperative in the prevention and mitigation of natural disasters.

10. Each country bears the primary responsibility for protecting its people, infrastructure, and othernational assets from the impact of natural disasters. The international community should demonstratestrong political determination required to mobilize adequate and make efficient use of existingresources, in the field of natural disaster reduction, bearing in mind the needs of the developing countries,particularly the least developed countries.



Preparatory process

A comprehensive preparatory process will help ensure thesuccessful outcome of the Conference. The ISDR Secretariat willserve as the secretariat of the Conference and will coordinatepreparatory activities, in close cooperation with Japan as the hostcountry and with the Bureau of the Preparatory Committee for theConference, and with the support of relevant departments of theUnited Nations Secretariat.

Member States, United Nations bodies and specialized agencies andother relevant intergovernmental agencies and organizations,particularly the members of the Inter-Agency Task Force on DisasterReduction (IATF/DR), will participate actively in the Conference,and its preparatory process.

The preparation of the Conference will be supported by thefollowing mechanisms:

• Two open-ended inter-governmental preparatory committeemeetings, to be held in association with meetings of the IATF/DR in May and October 2004, and conducted by a bureauconsisting of five representatives of Member States elected onthe basis of equitable geographical representation to discussspecific conference outcomes

• The Inter-Agency Task Force on Disaster Reduction willprovide additional guidance on the content and the preparationof the Conference and the coordination of the participation andengagement of its members.

• A working group under the IATF/DR will act as an organizingand advising committee to the Secretariat. It will be composedof those organizations directly involved in the preparations ofthe Conference. Potential members include UNESCO, UNU,UNDP, WMO, IFRC, OCHA, DESA, UNCRD among others.Some consultations and meetings of this working group may beconducted electronically before IATF/DR and PreparatoryCommittee meetings and on other relevant occasions, asneeded.

The IATF/DR working group will provide specific advice andguidance on organizational and substantive work of the Conference.Additional expertise and further guidance will be sought throughwide consultation to engage/involve representatives from varioussectors and levels in different disaster prone regions of the world.The possibility of a high-level personality to increase the profile ofthe Conference is currently being discussed with the Office of theUN Secretary-General.

Why Hyogo, Japan?On 17 January 1995 the Great Hanshin-Awajiearthquake struck the Hyogo prefecture,including the City of Kobe (population 1.5million), resulting in thousands of fatalities. Itwas the first major earthquake in a large city ina developed country in recent history. Thepeople of the city of Kobe as well as the HyogoPrefecture will commemorate the tenthanniversary of the tragedy on 17 January 2005.

Located on the Pacific Ring of Fire, Japan has along history of living with geological hazardssuch as earthquakes. Heavy snow in thenorthern parts in the winter, and frequenttropical storms or typhoons approaching fromthe south are but a few examples ofhydrological hazards in Japan.



Regional Meetings2003

1 First Asian consultation, (Government of Japan, ADRC, Kobe-Hyogo, Japan, 17 January

2 Pacific Regional consultation (SOPAC), Fiji, 5-7 May

3 Safer Sustainable Communities 2003 Australian Disaster Conference (EMA), Canberra, 10-12 September

4 Euro-Mediterranean consultations (Council of Europe, Spain), Madrid, Spain, 6-8 October

5 Forum Mitch+5 (CEPREDENAC, UNDP, COPECO), Tegucigalpa, Honduras, 9-11 December

20046 Third Asian consultation (Governments of Cambodia and Japan, ADRC), Cambodia, 4-6 February

7 Third Asian Consultative Meeting of Regional Organizations and Regional Offices of UN Agencies,

(WHO/WPRO, ADPC), Manila, Philippines, 24-26 February

8 EUR-OPA (Council of Europe), Rabat, Morocco, 11-13 March

9 Third Asian consultation during 4th meeting of Consultative Committee on Regional Cooperation in Disaster Management

(ADPC and Government of Bangladesh), Dhaka, Bangladesh, 29-31 March

10 Third Southeast Asia Disaster Management Practitioners Forum, (ADPC, UNESCAP, ECHO, IFRC-SE ASIA), Bangkok,

Thailand, 26-29 April

11 International Conference on Disaster Reduction in Central Asia (Government of China), Beijing, China, 25-27 May

12 African consultation, (UNDP, AU/NEPAD), Johannesburg, South Africa, 2-4 June

13 International Seminar on Risk Reductions following the Bam Earthquake, Iran, June/July

14 Caribbean consultation, (UWI, CDERA) October

15 Second Meeting of ASEAN Committee on Disaster Management, Phnom Penh, Cambodia, November

For more information contact:

United Nations Inter-Agency Secretariat of the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UN/ISDR)Palais des NationsCH 1211 Geneva 10, SwitzerlandTel: +41 22 9172103 / 762 / 759Fax: +41 22 [email protected]

UN/ISDR AfricaBlock U Room 217UNEP, Gigiri, Nairobi, KenyaTel: + 254 2 62 41 01Fax: + 254 2 62 47 [email protected] www.unisdrafrica.org


The Yokohama Strategy and Plan ofAction was adopted at the WorldConference on Natural Disasters, held in1994 as a mid-review of the progressduring the International Decade onNatural Disaster Reduction (IDNDR,1990-1999).

As the successor of the IDNDR, theSecretariat of the International Strategyfor Disaster Reduction (UN/ISDR)coordinated a global review of disasterreduction initiatives, “Living with Risk”,published in 2002.

National authorities and platforms ondisaster reduction are invited to provideinformation for the preparatory processfor the World Conference on Disaster

Reduction in 2005. This information willbe used to identify needs and futurepolicy recommendations to be adoptedat the Conference.

The preparation of this informationprovides an opportunity to bringtogether national stakeholders fromGovernment, academic and other sectorsdealing with disaster risk reduction.

Therefore we encourage consultationswith institutions specializing in disastermanagement, environmental planning,education, meteorological services, keyNGOs and other key domains.

If a national platform or network fordisaster reduction does not already exist

in your country, this might be the time tocall for such a mechanisms (ad-hoc orformalized). For more information onnational platforms for disaster reduction,contact Mr. Haris Sanahuja at the ISDRSecretariat ([email protected]).

Deadline for receiving inputs at UN/ISDR:15 June 2004. Later submissions will alsobe made available at the Conference, butwill not form part of the proposed policyrecommendations.

Information provided will be utilized byISDR for various information products,including in the website as countryinformation. Therefore, please indicate ifany information is of restricted nature.

Outline for national reporting and information ondisaster reduction

How to use these guidelines to prepare your national information

For each section, please indicate current status, main difficulties or gaps encountered, and challenges for thefuture:

1. Political Commitment and Institutional Aspects2. Risk Identification (including early warning)3. Knowledge Management (education, research, information, public awareness)4. Risk Management Applications/Instruments (technical, social, financial,

environmental)5. Preparedness and Contingency Planning6. Good practices in disaster risk management7. Priorities to address at WCDR

Use the explanations and questions for each heading provided below as a guide for your contribution. If no information isavailable, leave the questions unanswered marked as N/A. Short answers and analyses are encouraged. When applicable,please indicate any relevant documentation or other sources of information on the subject.

(For additional details, see the “Framework for Guiding and Monitoring Disaster Risk Reduction” http://www.unisdr.org/dialogue/basicdocument.htm ) or contact the ISDR Secretariat.

Please provide your information if possible by electronic means to the ISDR Secretariat c/o Mr. Haris Sanahuja([email protected], tel: +41-22-917 2808) and Ms. Christel Rose ([email protected], tel: +41-22-9172786or by fax to: ISDR Secretariat, United Nations, Palais des Nations, CH-1211 Geneva, Switzerland

In Africa, please contact the UN/ISDR Office in Nairobi, Kenya, for more information: Tel.: +254 20 62 45 68 - Fax: +254 20 62 47 26- E-mail <[email protected]>



Reference Guide for Preparation of nationalInformation

Component 1 Political Commitment and Institutional AspectsPolitical commitment, strong institutions, and good governance are expected to elevate disaster risk reduction as a policy priority,allocate the necessary resources for it, enforce its implementation and assign accountability for failures, as well as facilitate participationfrom civil society to private sector. Due to its multi-disciplinary and multi-sectoral nature, disaster reduction falls into the agenda ofmany diverse institutions which, for effective implementation, requires clear assignment of roles and assumption of responsibilities aswell as coordination of activities.

1.1- Are there national policy, strategy and legislation addressing disaster risk reduction? If yes, please describe to what extentcurrent national efforts and main priority areas of the policy, and mechanisms to enforce the implementation of the policy andlegislation are applied (and/or attach any relevant documentation

1.2- Is there a national body for multi-sectoral coordination and collaboration in disaster risk reduction, which includes ministries incharge of water resource management, agriculture/land use and planning, health, environment, education, developmentplanning and finance? If yes, please give detailed information (name, structure and functions). Attach any relevantdocumentation or indicate source of information.

1.3- Are there sectoral plans or initiatives that incorporate risk reduction concepts into each respective development area (such aswater resource management, poverty alleviation, climate change adaptation, education and development planning)? If yes,please indicate some examples and challenges / limitations encountered. If no, does your government have any plans forintegrating disaster risk reduction into development sectors? If no, please also specify the major difficulties.

1.4- Is disaster risk reduction incorporated into your national plan for the implementation of the UN Millennium Development Goals(MDGs), Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP), National Adaptation Plans of Action, National Environmental Action Plansand WSSD (World Summit on Sustainable Development) Johannesburg Plan of Implementation? If yes to any of these, whoare the main contacts for these initiatives.

1.5- Does your country have building codes of practice and standards in place, which takes into account seismic risk? If yes, sincewhen. Which are the main difficulties in keeping with the compliances of the codes.

1.6- Do you have an annual budget for disaster risk reduction? If yes, is this commitment represented as part of the national budgetor project based? Through which institution/s? If no, what other financing mechanisms for risk reduction initiatives areavailable?

1.7- Are the private sector, civil society, NGOs, academia and media participating in disaster risk reduction efforts? If yes, how?Indicate existing coordination or joint programming between government and civil society efforts in disaster risk reduction, ormajor difficulties or constraints for this to be effective.

Component 2 Risk IdentificationIdentification of risks is a relatively well-defined area with a significant knowledge base on methods for disaster impactand hazard and vulnerability assessment. Systematic assessment of losses, social and economic impact of disasters,and particularly mapping of risks are fundamental to understand where to take action. Consideration of disaster risks inenvironmental impact assessments is still to become routine practice. Early warning is increasingly defined as a meansto inform public and authorities on impending risks, hence essential for timely actions to reduce their impact.

1.1- Has your country carried out hazard mapping/assessment? If yes, please describe for which hazards, when they were updatedand for what geographical scale they exist. Do they include characteristics, impacts, historical data, multi-hazards approach?Which institutions are using the results of the hazard assessment? To whom are they available? (attach any relevantdocumentation)

1.2- Has your country carried out vulnerability and capacity assessments? If yes, please describe the methods used and majorsocial, economic, physical, environmental, political and cultural factors considered in the assessment(s). Who are the maincontacts for these assessments (or attach any relevant documentation or contact information.)



1.3- Does your country have any mechanisms for risk monitoring and risk mapping? If yes, who is responsible?

1.4- Is there a systematic socio-economic and environmental impact and loss analysis in your country after each major disaster? Ifyes, are the results available?

1.5- Are there early warning systems in place? If yes, for what hazards and for what geographical scope. Do you have any examplewhen the system was activated lately? Which are the main institutions involved? Please indicate any relevant lessons-learntfrom the use and public reaction to early warnings issued.

Component 3 Knowledge ManagementInformation management and communication, education and training, public awareness and research are all parts of improvingand managing knowledge on disaster risks and their reduction. Inclusion of disaster reduction at all levels of education, effectivepublic awareness and information campaigns, media involvement in advocacy and dissemination, availability of training forcommunities at risk and professional staff, and targeted research are the ingredients to support the knowledge base for effectivedisaster reduction.

1.1- Does your country have disaster risk information management systems (governmental and/or non-governmental)? If yes, whatkind of information on disaster reduction is available, how is it collected, how is the information disseminated and who are themain users? (indicate relevant sources of information, if applicable)

1.2- Are the academic and research communities in the country linked to national or local institutions dealing with disaster reduction?If yes, please describe the mechanisms for information sharing and indicate any example of usefulness and effectiveness. Whichare the main research and academic institutions dealing with disaster reduction related issues (please list, if available, andindicate how their research work is related to the country’s disaster risk reduction needs.)

1.3- Are there educational programmes related to disaster risk reduction in your public school system? If yes, for what age-range? Doyou have any educational material developed to support the teachers in this area? (please attach any relevant documentation)

1.4- Are there any training programmes available? If yes, please list (if available indicate scope and target audiences of the courses).Do you have any indication on how these courses have been useful to change any practices at local or national scale?

1.5- What kind of traditional indigenous knowledge and wisdom is used in disaster-related practices or training programmes ondisaster risk reduction in your country?

1.6- Do you have any national public awareness programmes or campaigns on disaster risk reduction? If available, who are the mainplayers for raising public awareness? How are the mass media and schools involved? Who are the targeted groups and how doyou evaluate the programmes?

Component 4 Risk Management Applications/InstrumentsFor effective disaster risk reduction, synergies are needed between sustainable development and disaster risk managementpractices. Moving from analyzing of and knowing about risks to taking concrete actions to reduce their impacts is a demandingstep. Ideas and practices coming from different disciplinary areas will complement what is already practiced in disaster riskmanagement. For example, instruments for risk management have proliferated especially with the recognition of environmentalmanagement, poverty reduction and financial management.

Environmental and natural resource management is among the best–known applications to reduce flood risks, control landslides(through reforestation) and control droughts (through ecosystem conservation). Physical and technical measures, such as floodcontrol techniques, soil conservation practices, retrofitting of buildings or land use planning, are effective in hazard control.Financial instruments in the form of insurance, calamity funds, catastrophe bonds are useful to lessen the impact of disasters.

1.1- Is there any good examples of linking environmental management and risk reduction practices in your country (key areas ofenvironmental management may include coastal zone, wetland and watershed management, reforestation and agriculturalpractices, amongst others). If yes, please indicate in what areas. (Attach any relevant documentation ore references)

1.2- Are financial instruments utilised in your country as a measure to reduce the impact of disasters (e.g. insurance/reinsurance,calamity funds, catastrophe bonds, micro-credit finance, community funds, etc.)? If yes, please describe what these instrumentsare and when they were established, who manages them and who are eligible to them.



1.3- Please identify specific examples of technical measures or programmes on disaster risk reduction that have been carried out inyour country (see below, case studies).

Component 5 Preparedness and Contingency Planning Preparedness and emergency management has been used as a means for reducing life losses from direct and indirect effects ofdisasters. A well-prepared system is expected to be effectively informed by early warning, endowed with regularly rehearsednational and local contingency and evacuation plans, fitted with communications and coordination systems, as well as adequatelogistical infrastructures and emergency funds. Local-level preparedness, particularly at community level, including training,deserves special attention as the most effective way of reducing life and livelihood losses.

1.1- Do you have disaster contingency plans in place? Are they prepared for both national and community levels? If yes, pleasedescribe their main components, who is responsible for activating the plan(s)?Are the plan(s) updated on annual basis? Haveyou ever used the contingency plan(s) that was or were developed? If yes, what was the result?

1.2- Has your government established emergency funds for disaster response and are there national or community storage facilitiesfor emergency relief items – mainly food, medicine, tents/shelters? If yes, please provide some details.

1.3- Who is responsible for the coordination of disaster response preparedness and is the coordination body equipped with enoughhuman and financial resources for the job? Please comment on the effectiveness of the coordination work done so far?

Component 6 Call for good practices in disaster risk managementBased on the above analysis and information provided, please provide at least two examples of any successful implementation ofdisaster reduction activities in your country (could be of local, national or regional scale); any project or community basedexperience, national policy, interaction between sectors, etc., would be welcome. Provide maximum one page on each example,indicating area of work, institutions and actors involved, duration, impact of the activities, lessons-learnt and if the example havebeen replicated. You may also kindly direct us to relevant web-based information/organization.

Component 7 Priorities you want addressed at World Conference on Disaster ReductionWhat do you think are the priority topics to be agreed upon at the World Conference to enhance and strengthen national policy andpractice to reduce risk and vulnerability to natural and technological hazards? Please list any other thematic areas or specific topics ofdiscussion that you consider of importance to increase the effectiveness of disaster risk reduction for your country.Please also indicate any particular experience or project that your country would like to exhibit or present at the Conference.



Interview

« World Water Day was an opportunity for my country,Burundi, to show to the nation and the internationalcommunity that curing is not enough, and that, aboveall, one has also to prevent risks of natural andanthropic disasters. » Mr Fulgence DwimaBakana, Burundi Minister of publicsecurity.

World Water Day was marked in the Burundi capital, Bujumbura, on 22 March 2004.On World Water Day was marked in the Burundi capital, Bujumbura, on 22 March2004. On the sidelines of various events organized by WHO, UNICEF, UN/ISDR andthe Government of Burundi on that occasion, Burundi Public Security Minister MrFulgence Dwima Bakana granted an interview to Mr Gerard Madodo. Mr Madodo,who is UN/ISDR’s focal point in Burundi, has initiated the establishment of a UN/ISDR National Platform in the country. His interview with the minister centres on theBurundi government’s determination to elevate disaster management to one of thecountry’s national priorities.

Mr Minister, you are known to bekeen on disaster risk management.Can you tell us why?Disaster risk management is of greatinterest to me for many reasons. Firstbecause it is part of my concerns andduties. Indeed the Ministry of PublicSecurity is in charge of disaster riskprevention in the country.

The other reason is the following: mycountry suffered and is still sufferingfrom both natural and anthropic disasters.

The ongoing civil war is a disaster whichhas been there for some 10 years, andwhich has already killed hundreds ofpeople. I am positive that a conflict earlywarning system within the UN or the AU

would help to prevent some conflict-related humanitarian disasters. It is clearthat conflicts would be difficult toprevent in our countries, but many othercalamities can be avoided if adequateearly warning and preparednessmechanisms are put in place.

Regarding natural disasters, I wish onlyto quote the following African proverb:« The difference between a desert and agarden is not water, it is Man». Mycountry is determined to involve allBurundians through a sensitizationcampaign aimed at making themincreasingly aware of the fact thatsolutions are there to reduce vulnerabilityto these various disasters. To this end,combined efforts from all the peoples of

the world are essential for the success ofsuch a noble task.

How is the situation in Burundi inthe field of disaster riskmanagement?As far as disaster risk management isconcerned, my country has made noprogress over the last few years, eventhough a department in charge ofdisaster prevention and management wasestablished in 1998.

Burundi made some steps to joininternational efforts within the frameworkof the 1990-99 International Decade forNatural Disaster Reduction, IDNDR, butthe social-political context which hasprevailed in the country unfortunately

Policy Makers talk about Disaster Reduction


Policy Makers talk about Disaster Reduction

prevented it from giving concreteexpression to such a will.

Nevertheless, selective actions fallingunder an event-centred type ofmanagement have been taken by variousstructures like government ministries,NGOs, associations, etc. Theestablishment of a coordination structurewould help us not to waste someresources and efforts. Therefore wecontemplate to launch a UN/ISDRNational Platform in Burundi, whichwould contribute to ongoing nationalefforts to prevent and/or mitigate disasterrisks.

Being the number-one person incharge of disaster riskmanagement, what do you plan forthe country in this particular field?Being in charge of disaster riskmanagement, my first concern is aboutinvolving, directly or indirectly, the entireBurundi population in the prevention ofthe disaster risks that affect the country.

How would I achieve this? First through apublic awareness campaign highlightingthe fact that solutions are there to reducevulnerability to these disasters; then theestablishment of a framework enabling usto acquire scientific knowledge which

help to understand better the causes andeffects of disasters on societies, and alsoenables a wider dissemination ofknowledge so that the vulnerability ofcommunities exposed to disasters isreduced.

The UN General Assembly has justagreed that a world conference ondisaster reduction shall be held inKobe, Japan, from 18 to 22 January2005. What does our countryexpect from this conference? Doyou have a message to those whoare organizing the conference?This world conference on disasterreduction will be an excellent opportunityfor experience sharing between variouscommunities from all over the world.Important decisions on issues of common

« The differencebetween a desert anda garden is not water,it is Man»

interest might also be taken during theconference to ensure improved livingconditions for people in various parts ofthe world.

Regarding my country’s expectations, thisforum is of prime importance. On top ofexisting gaps in practical information (oftechnical, political nature, etc.) in the fieldof disaster risk prevention and/ormitigation, the conference will enable us tosee what has been achieved by othernations.

Do I have a message to those organizingthe forum? I want them to showprofoundness and consistence, to considerall aspects of the disaster risk preventionand/or mitigation problem.

Please note that I was brief in that firstinterview. The reason is information are stilldisparate in the field of disastermanagement in Burundi (due to an event-centred type of management by variousgovernment ministries, NGOs, UNagencies, etc.). However, I am very positivethat the establishment of a UN/ISDRNational Platform in Burundi will enable usto harmonize the timing of all activities andcoordinate the actions taken by variouspartners.


UN/ISDR AFRICA 2003 activities at a glance

ContextBased on the initial progress and impactsmade in 2002 and its good understandingof who was doing what and where indisaster reduction in Africa, as well as theneed balance the match between needsand funds available, UN/ISDR’s AfricanRegional Outreach Programme – alsoknown as UN/ISDR Africa - has carriedout its work through outreaching,networking, cooperating and coordinatingwith major stakeholders in Africa on thebasis of a “catalytic” approach.

Such an approach suited and still suitsthe limited resources at the disposal ofthe UN/ISDR Africa and its current initial“ground-work”, implantation phase.The approach also helps to promote“national ownership” of the disasterreduction process, this being key notonly to the success of the implementationof the ISDR but also to cost-effectiveness- on a huge African continentcharacterized by limited, and thereforeexpensive, communications.

Such a catalytic approach calls for pro-active, exchange-boosting andnetworking-focused communications andpublic relations policy from UN/ISDRAfrica. It has been based on a refinedselection of key interventions, maximalleverage-based choices of action atnational, sub-regional and regional levels.

ObjectivesIn line with the vision set forth in theStrategy for a Safer World in the 21st

Century: Disaster Reduction, theoverall objective of UN/ISDR’s AfricanRegional Outreach Programme is tocontribute to saving lives and assetsthrough improved risk management anddisaster prevention culture.

Areas of prioritiesTo achieve this objective, UN/ISDRAfrica was working closely with UNagencies, regional and sub-regionalorganizations, and national authorities

in Africa to promote implementation ofthe UN international strategy andframework for disaster reduction. In linewith the areas of priority set in theAfrica programme mentioned in thenarrative report, slight changes weremade and the focus was on the six areasbelow:

• Advocate the integration of disasterrisk reduction into sustainabledevelopment

• Support institutional and humancapacity building

• Promote networking and coordination

• Enhance public awareness and accessto information on hazards,vulnerability and disaster riskreduction

• Support capacity building andcoordination in early warning

• Encourage application of science andtechnology

Progress madeUnder the guidance of the UN/ISDRDirector and with the support ofcolleagues in its Geneva headquarters,UN/ISDR Africa was able to consolidateits constructive working relationship withregional organizations and make sometangible progress in the implementationof the ISDR’s African Regional OutreachProgramme. The points belowdemonstrate the tangible progress madein 2003:

Organization of a regional workshop onthe Application of Space Technology inIGAD countries, in cooperation with theIGAD Secretariat and the Regional Centrefor Mapping of Resources forDevelopment (RCMRD) from 17 to 21February 2003.

Establishment of ISDR NationalPlatforms, in cooperation with nationalgovernments, UNOPS, OCHA and

UNDP in Djibouti, Madagascar, Ugandaand the Comoros.

Construction of a UN/ISDR Africa web-site www.unisdrafrica.org

Coordination of an African RegionalConsultative Meeting on Early Warningwhich was part of the preparation for theSecond International Conference on EarlyWarning held in October 2003 in Bonn,Germany, and sub-regional reviews ofearly warning systems in IGAD, SADCand ECOWAS countries.

Extension of UN/ISDR Africa’s network atnational, sub-regional and regionallevels, and launching of UN/ISDRAfrica’s biannual newsletter/magazinecalled Disaster Reduction in Africa - UN/ISDR Informs in English and French.

Support to the NEPAD-led regionalworkshop on disaster management, andsupport to AU/NEPAD-led regionalconsultative meeting on disaster riskmanagement. Started a AU/NEPAD andUN/ISDR Africa joint-initiative for thedevelopment of an African RegionalStrategy for Disaster Risk Management.

Promotion of women’s participation andgender concerns in disaster reduction inAfrica. Started joint initiative with UN-HABITAT and DMCN (DroughtMonitoring Centre – Nairobi) to reviewdisaster reduction in Africa from a genderperspective for strategy development andpolicy recommendations.

Finalization of an agreement with theIndian Ocean Commission (IOC)Secretariat on a sub-regionalconsultation and review of disasterreduction, and organized IOC sub-regional consultations on disasterreduction.

Production of radio programmes inEnglish, French and Swahili entitledHazards and Disasters; Drought - What

UN/ISDR Africa in Action


To Know & What To Do; Impact ofDisasters On Our Communities; andLiving With Disaster Risks.

Production of educational booklets forcommunity leaders and schools on Waterand Risk in Africa, and production of thefirst two booklets of a children’seducational collection called Safari(Safari’s Encounter With Landslide;Safari’s Encounter With Floods).

Initial impactsThe tangible progress in 2003 furtherincreased the visibility of the UN/ISDRand appreciation of its value-addedassistance in the implementation of theInternational strategy for DisasterReduction and advancement of disasterreduction process in Africa. Majorimpacts can be summarised as follows(please note that numbers in this sectioncorresponds to those above – under“Progress Made”):

The regional workshop helped nationalauthorities to understand that disasterreduction needed multi-level and multi-sectoral cooperation and collaboration aswell as the importance of information, andgenerated cooperation between Ugandaand South Africa in informationmanagement by using space technology.

The establishment of UN/ISDR nationalplatforms help to strengthen inter-ministerial cooperation in disasterreduction and identify areas of prioritiesin disaster reduction. The NationalPlatforms organized follow-up meetingsby themselves; Uganda set up a disasterinformation management unit; Djibouti isready to develop a policy and strategy fornational disaster reduction; and morecountries - such as Botswana, Burundi,Rwanda, DRCongo and Ghana -expressed interest in establishing focalpoints for the implementation of the UN/ISDR. As the National Platforms wereestablished with the help of UNDPcountry offices, the whole processtherefore generated cooperation betweenUNDP and UN/ISDR Africa.

The web site contains comprehensiveinformation on disaster reduction from

regional, sub-regional and nationalauthorities in Africa. While the web sitewas still under construction, UN/ISDRAfrica received a large number ofqueries on why they could not access theweb site: this shows that the web site wasalready used as a reference in the region.

The African regional consultationsmade a substantive contribution to theSecond International Conference onEarly Warning held in Bonn, Germany, inOctober 2003. Compared with otherregions, the African report was morecomprehensive and useful as reference.African participation in the meeting (fromcabinet ministers to women, NGOs)provided added value to the Bonnconference. After participating in theBonn meeting, the Ghanaian deputyminister, for example, expressedwillingness to work on disaster reductionwith UN/ISDR Africa support. UN/ISDRAfrica’s value-added service has alsobeen widely accepted since then.

The extension of network with UNagencies and regional and sub-regionalorganizations helped to strengtheninformation sharing and knowledgeexchange on disaster reduction. Since thelaunching of its biannual newsletter/magazine, UN/ISDR Africa has receivedincreasing requests for copies, growingcontributions in the forms of article, andinstitutional interests and contribution forArabic and Portuguese translation of thenewsletter/magazine, in addition toFrench.

UN/ISDR Africa’s support to the NEPADSecretariat has made it possible to shiftthe focus on disaster response and foodsecurity to a focus on disaster riskmanagement; and from that of a short-term plan of developing a disastermanagement programme to that of a long-term plan which includes a regionalreview of the disaster reduction process,and strategy development and programmedevelopment. This support alsogenerated more interests and supportfrom UNDP and UNEP to the ongoingjoint initiative between the NEPADSecretariat and UN/ISDR.


UN/ISDR AFRICAEducational Series,Volume 1, Issue 2

SAFARI’SENCOUNTER WITH

FLOODS

SAFARI’SENCOUNTER WITH A

LANDSLIDE

ISDR-Africa Educational Series.

Volume 1, Issue 1



Women’s interest in disaster reduction hasincreased. A women NGO in Kenya held anationwide workshop with support fromUN/ISDR Africa and the DMCN. An Africanregional review on disaster reduction from agender perspective is also being carriedout, which will result in policyrecommendations and contributions to theongoing process of developing an AfricanRegional Strategy on Disaster Management(with the AU/NEPAD), in addition to beingan input to the World Conference onDisaster Reduction (WCDR) to be held inKobe, Hyogo, Japan, in January 2005.

The IOC is ready to develop a sub-regionalstrategy to facilitate the disaster reductionprocess in the sub-region.

The radio programmes were aired indifferent countries such as Uganda,Djibouti and Madagascar on theInternational Day of Disaster Reduction.Safari’s Encounter With Landslide was wellreceived by students and teachers, and anorganization from Denmark asked whether itcould use it as a model to modify theirassistance to Madagascar. Water and Riskin Africa – A guide for Community Leadersand Water and Risk in Africa –A Guide toSchools generated more interests andsupport. UNDP is now working with UN/ISDR Africa to produce a guide on goodgovernance and disaster reduction; UNEPagreed to share the cost of Safaris’sEncounter with Floods and Drought, aswell as that of a booklet on linkingenvironmental protection and disasterreduction.

Priorities in 2004To foster national ownership of the disasterreduction process, UN/ISDR Africa willcontinue to provide tailored assistance tothe establishment of national platforms,based on official requests, and will makesure that national governments lead theprocess of establishing nationalplatforms. At the same time, UN/ISDRAfrica will endeavour to fosterpartnership with already-established UN/ISDR national platforms through mutualsupport in disaster reduction initiatives.UN/ISDR Africa’s main priorities in 2004are to:

Facilitate the creation of enablingenvironments: UN/ISDR Africa will

continue to encourage and assistnational governments to create enablingenvironments consisting of nationalpolicies, legislations, strategies,institutional frameworks, humancapacity and financial resourcesthrough advocacy, technical support,information-sharing and knowledgeexchange.

Increase awareness of disaster risks:UN/ISDR Africa will continue its effortto raise general awareness of disasterrisks through advocacy, production ofnewsletters, information kits andeducational materials, and in-depthanalysis of disaster impact on socio-economic development.

Encourage consultations and promotecooperation and collaboration: UN/ISDR Africa will continue to initiate andencourage multi-level andmultidimensional consultations onspecific subjects related to disasterreduction through formal and informalmeetings at national, sub-regional andcontinental levels.

Address gender concerns in disasterreduction: UN/ISDR Africa will continueto promote gender concerns in disasterrisk reduction and increase awareness ofgender difference in the impact ofdisasters.

Advocate the linkage between disasterreduction and poverty eradicationtowards the Millennium DevelopmentGoals: UN/ISDR Africa will carry out in-depth studies in poor areas in Africa anddevelop guidelines on how to linkdisaster reduction with povertyeradication, based on the insight gainedin the planned in-depth studies.

Facilitate African regional preparationfor the January 2005 World Conferenceon Disaster Reduction to be held inKobe, Hyogo, Japan: UN/ISDR Africa willfacilitate the ongoing African continentalreview in cooperation with nationalgovernments, sub-regional and regionalinter-governmental organizations and theUN system. UN/ISDR Africa will also usethis review as an opportunity to furtherengage governments and communities indisaster reduction.


PUBLICATIONS UPDATE

UN/ISDR Africa to publish community guide on disasterreduction & environmental protection

UN/ISDR Africa is preparing a communityleader’s guide on “EnvironmentalProtection and Disaster Risk Reduction”.

The booklet is part of UN/ISDR Africapublic awareness activities, and is beingprepared in partnership with UmvotoAfrica, a South African earth scienceconsulting firm. Umvoto Africa hasalready completed another bookletentitled “Water and Risk in Africa”.“Water and Risk in Africa” is the firstcommunity leader/school guide publishedby UN/ISDR Africa.

Increasing public awareness aboutnatural and related hazards and the risksthey pose to societies and economies hasbecome one of the four key objectives ofthe UN International Strategy for DisasterReduction (UN/ISDR).

As public awareness aims to conveyknowledge about existing solutions thatcan reduce vulnerability to hazards, UN/ISDR Africa resolved to publish a seriesof booklets for community leaders withsimplified versions for school children.For a better coverage of the entire Africancontinent, the booklets will be publishedin English, French and Portuguese.

Why the next booklet will be on“Environmental Protection & DisasterRisk Reduction”? Over the past 40 years,natural hazards such as earthquakes,

droughts, floods, storms and tropicalcyclones, wildfires and volcaniceruptions have caused major losses ofhuman lives in Africa. They often result inthe destruction of economic and socialinfrastructure, as well as damage tonatural environment (UN/ISDR, 2002).

The “Environmental Protection &Disaster Risk Reduction” booklet willdescribe how environmental degradationresults in increased communityvulnerability to disasters, and whydisaster reduction should be linked toenvironmental protection.

Desertification, deforestation, soildegradation, coastal erosion andpollution can all result in situations wherecommunities are more exposed to hazardsthan they were before. The effects ofenvironmental degradation contribute toan increase in vulnerability and thefrequency and intensity of naturalhazards - either in the form of slow-onsetdisasters (e.g. drought) or rapid-onsetdisasters (e.g. floods).

The booklet will also put some emphasison sustainable development, and willshow how disaster risk awareness andreduction can be tools to supportsustainable development.

Indeed, as sustainable development isdevelopment that meets the needs of the

present without compromising the abilityof future generations to meet their ownneeds (Brundtland Commission, 1987), itis based on socio-cultural wellbeing,good governance, economic efficiencyand environmental protection, which allcontribute positively to disaster riskreduction.

The booklet will also feature a number ofsuccess stories about disaster riskreduction through communityparticipation, and will illustrate thebenefits of Environmental Protection &Disaster Risk Reduction.

Last but not least, the booklet providescommunity leaders with guidelines on riskassessment (with some emphasis onenvironmental hazards), environmentalprotection and risk reduction measures,early warning systems, disasterpreparedness planning, sustainabledevelopment and reducing reliance ondisaster relief.

When communities take active steps toprotect their environment, they are alsohelping to reduce the risk of disasters. Andif a community is aware of local risks, andhas disaster preparedness plans in place,then it will be in a better position to respondto and recover from disasters.



INDIAN OCEAN ISLANDS: Disaster reduction“gains momentum”UN/ISDR AfricaNairobi, Kenya

“To mobilize and pool nationalcapacities… in aid of a membercountry in need…”, “…to integratedisaster risk reduction in alldevelopment programmes andinvestment activities…” Theserecommendations were made bydisaster management officials fromfive Ocean Indian islands…

“Disaster reduction has stopped being amere option, it is now part of action inIOC (Indian Ocean Commission1)countries. In a nutshell, disasterreduction is gaining momentum in thesub-region.”

This comment was made by Dr HasinaRandrianasolo, international consultanton disaster management, at the end of aSub-regional Consultative Meeting onDisaster Risk Reduction organized jointlyby the IOC General Secretariat and UN/ISDR Africa on 20 and 21 November 2003in Antananarivo, Madagascar.

The consultative meeting, during whichcooperation between the two above-mentioned bodies became effective, wasattended by two representatives of eachof five Indian Ocean islands (Seychelles,Comoros, Madagascar, Reunion etMauritius), two representatives of theIOC General Secretariat and onerepresentative from UN/ISDR Africa.

Towards common actionPeriodically exposed to and particularlyvulnerable to increasing threats ofdisasters caused by natural hazards suchas cyclones, floods, droughts, volcaniceruptions, etc., the five IOC memberstates have experienced huge economicand human losses as well as humansuffering every year.

Yet, any effort to reduce poverty andattain sustainable development would bevain unless disaster risks and theprotection of human lives and livelihoodsare managed properly.

Therefore, to strengthen disasterreduction process in southwestern Indian

Ocean, the IOC General Secretariat andUN/ISDR Africa noted that some commonactions, in the field of disaster reduction,were in the mutual interest of IOC membercountries.

Seeking consensusThree objectives were set for theconsultative meeting:

1. Reinforced sub-regional cooperationin disaster risk management;

2. Forum for IOC member countries andmajor UN agencies to share viewsand experience in disaster riskmanagement;

3. Consensus on how to handledisaster risk management forsustainable development in the sub-region.

For the sake of sustainabledevelopmentThe meeting was opened and closedformally by the minister of interior andadministrative reform of the Republic ofMadagascar, the host country, Mr JeanSeth Rambeloalijaona, also chairman ofthe country’s Conseil national desecours (CNS – National Relief Council).

On the first day, a total of eightpresentations were made respectively (1)by representatives of four countries onthe state of disaster risk management in2003 et 2004 in their respective countries(Comoros, Mauritius, Madagascar,Seychelles) ;

The presentations were followed bydiscussions centred on how to handledisaster risk reduction for sustainabledevelopment in the sub-region.

Sub-regional strategy, policyRecommendations were made during themeeting. The participants recommendedthe following as foundations for aneffective and sustainable management ofdisaster risks in the sub-region: (1)sound, sustainable and effective sub-regional coordination in disaster riskmanagement; (2) sound, sustainable andeffective sub-regional cooperation indisaster risk management; (3) effective

incorporation of disaster risk reductionand impact mitigation into developmentand poverty reduction policies, strategiesand initiatives.

The participants also recommended that itwas imperative for member countries: (1)to adopt a common vision of disaster riskmanagement ; (2) to adopt and put inplace an agreed framework for sub-regional operations and a commonreference framework for operations atnational level; (3) to have an acceptable(minimal) level of institutional andtechnical capacity; and (4) to displayand provide sustained and sustainablepolitical commitment.

They recommended that: (1) a GeneralStrategy and Policy for Disaster RiskManagement be developed in the sub-region; as well as (2) short, medium andlong-term sectoral strategies, followed bythe identification of relevant programmeactivities.

“Inter-State Solidarity”The participants recommended thatnational authorities’ political will bemobilized and all the member States beinvolved through a cooperation treaty orconvention binding them to participate inthe common process to be implemented,no matter what situation or priority maybe prevailing in each country.

The participants also recommended thatInter-State Solidarity be strengthenedand implemented:

• by developing and signing a protocolcooperation agreement (frameworkand procedures for the mobilizationof Inter-State Solidarity);

• by mobilizing and pooling nationalcapacities - where the need arisesand when available but for a well-defined period - in aid of a membercountry in need;

• by incorporating disaster riskreduction and impact mitigation intoall development policies, strategiesand programmes, and into allinvestment activities.



Mr. Kenneth WestgateSenior RegionalAdvisorUNDP/BCPR (Bureau for Crisis Preventionand RecoveryNairobi, Kenya

Some 75 % of the world’s population livein areas affected at least once byearthquakes, tropical cyclones, floodsand droughts between 1980 and 2000. Theconsequences of such widespreadexposure to natural hazards for humandevelopment are only now beginning tobe identified. Natural disaster risk isintimately connected with processes ofhuman development.

Disasters put development at risk. At thesame time, the choices made byindividuals, communities and nations cangenerate new disaster risks. However,human development can also contributeto a serious reduction in disaster risks.

Link between disasters,developmentUNDP’s Bureau for Crisis Prevention andRecovery (UNDP-BCPR) has launched aglobal report entitled Reducing DisasterRisk: A Challenge for Development2. Thereport attempts to define the relationshipbetween disaster occurrence and disasterrisk and development.

Development processes intervene in thetranslation of physical exposure intonatural disaster events. This isdemonstrated by the observation thatwhile only 11 % of the people exposed tonatural hazards live in countries classifiesas demonstrating low humandevelopment, they account for more than53 % of total recorded deaths.

The report argues that disaster risk is notinevitable and offers examples of goodpractice in disaster risk reduction that canbe built into ongoing developmentplanning and policy.

The report incorporates the first DisasterRisk Index (DRI) that compares physicalexposure to hazards, vulnerability andrisk between countries, demonstrating aclear link between human development

and death rates following disasterstriggered by natural hazards.

Protecting MillenniumDevelopment Goals, otherdevelopment initiativesThrough our increasing knowledge andunderstanding of the relationshipbetween disaster risk and development,UNDP is suggesting that there is a realopportunity now to address disaster risksin a positive way to support povertyreduction, the Millennium DevelopmentGoals (MDGs) and other majordevelopment initiatives that are laid opento disruption and destruction by disasterevents.

UNDP, thereby, is stating its collectiveresolve to see disaster risk as acomponent of the development agendaand to encourage others to do the same.Even though disaster events producegood media coverage, continuing torespond to their aftermath does nothingfor the vulnerable state of people that ledto these disasters occurring in the firstplace.

What UNDP hopes to achieve throughthis report is no news at all: ultimatelydisaster risk reduction should mean that

at the very least disaster risks are reducedto manageable proportions.

Unattainable though this sounds, unlessrisks are tackled in an integrated andcomprehensive way, then all hope ofreally effective development, includingachieving the MDGs, disappears.

The Disaster Risk IndexThe report establishes the first DisasterRisk Index (DRI). The DRI provides thephysical exposure levels and relativevulnerability for more than 200 countriesand territories for four natural hazards –earthquakes, tropical cyclones, floodsand drought.The figures were determined bycomparing the number of people exposedin relation to population and thenmapping the data in a geographicalinformation system. By evaluating thenumber of people killed annually from1980 to 2000 with the number of exposedpeople, UNDP has been able to comparecountries’ vulnerabilities to differentnatural hazards.

In Iran, for example, an average of 1,074people were killed each year inearthquakes between 1980 and 2000, for

UNDP launches landmark global report ondisaster risk reduction and development

Partners in Action


every one million people exposed.Compare this with the 0.97 people killedeach year per one million people in theUSA.

The DRI compares countries’ risk levelswith 26 social, economic and ecologicalindicators in order to identifydevelopment processes that werecontributing to high vulnerability.Tropical cyclone risk, for example, isstrongly identified with countries of large,predominantly rural populations with lowranking on the Human DevelopmentIndex.

Countries with low GDP per capita, lowdensities of population (in flood-proneareas) and high numbers of exposedpeople are most at risk from floods.Even though the DRI must be consideredas work in progress with current dataincomplete (particularly in the case ofdrought), the report is also a plea forinvestment in data collection andmanagement, so that the picture becomesclearer and the disaster risk issues plainer,and that includes countries wherecurrently the data collection mechanismsare poor.

The DRI will assist in identifying thosecountries that face the greatest risks andwill provide a baseline for identifying thekey issues ansd assessing the problemsand solutions. However, the DRI is not apanacea but rather a window on risk andthe context in which it accumulates.

Disaster risk reduction: achallenge for AfricaThe integration of disaster riskmanagement and reduction into national,sub-regional and regional developmentpolicies and programes is, globally, arelatively new phemomenon. Africa isprobably the continent where the leasthas occured thus far although there areencouraging signs.Among the sub-regional organizations,the Intergovernmental Authority onDevelopment (IGAD) has an agreeddisaster risk reduction programme insupport of its member states. TheSouthern Africa Development Community(SADC) has also recognized the

importance of giving disaster riskmanagement backing to its members.Even regionally, the New Partnership forAfrica’s Development (NEPAD) iscurrently at work defining a disaster riskmanagement strategy for Africa.

Nationally, a number of countries havedefined disaster risk management as adistinct component of the UNDevelopment Assistance Framework(UNDAF), among them Ghana, Rwandaand Djibouti. South Africa is concernedto integrate its disaster managementprogramme into the development processat municipal level and below. Manyorganisations and agencies, both inter-governmental and non-governmental areproviding stimulus.

Disaster risk reduction, a UNDPcentral focusWith the production of the UNDP-BCPRreport, UNDP has made disaster riskreduction a central focus. And as theUN’s principal development agency, theonus is on UNDP to demonstrate theefficacy of good, development-baseddisaster risk management.

The advocacy and awareness raising ofthe UN International Strategy for DisasterReduction (UN/ISDR) is crucial supportto this, while other UN agencies such asHABITAT and UNEP are also involved inwhat is rapidly becoming a multi-agencyconcern.

Both UNDP and UN/ISDR haveappointed regional advisers for Africawho can animate the process throughUNDP country offices and their co-operation with national governments.

Report’s recommendationsThe report concludes with the followingrecommendations:• Appropriate governance is fundamental

to ensuring that risk considerations arefactored into development planning andprogramming, and that existing risks arethereby effectively mitigated.

• Disaster risk managementconsiderations should be factored intorecovery and reconstructionprogrammes following disaster.

• Integrated climate risk managementshould be promoted: building oncapacities that deal with existingdisaster risks is an effective way ofgenerating capacity to deal with risksemanating from future climate change.

• Disaster risk reduction policy has totake into account the fact that naturalhazard is only one among manypotential threats to life and livelihoods.Often those people and communitiesmost vulnerable to natural hazards arealso vulnerable to other hazards. Formany, livelihood strategies are all aboutthe playing off of risks from multiplehazards – economic, social, politicaland environmental. Disaster riskreduction policy has to look foropportunities to build generic as well asdisaster risk specific capacities.

• In addition to addressing futuredisaster risks, a legacy of riskaccumulation exists today and there is aneed, therefore, to improve disasterpreparedness and response to addressthis.

• A first step towards more concerted andcoordinated global action on disasterrisk reduction must be a clearunderstanding of the depth and extentof hazards, vulnerability and disasterloss. There is a need, therefore, toaddress gaps in knowledge for disasterrisk assessment through:

(a) enhancing global indexing of risk andvulnerability, enabling more and betterinter-country and inter-regionalcomparisons; (b) supporting national andsub-regional risk indexing to enhance theproduction of information for nationaldecision makers; (c) developing a multi-tiered system of disaster reporting; and(c) supporting context-driven riskassessment.

The author would like to acknowledgethe assistance of the Nairobi office ofthe Integrated Regional InformationNetwork (IRIN) of the UN Office for theCo-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs(OCHA) in the preparation of the articleabove.

Partners in Action


SADC - Mid season strategic assessment anddisaster preparedness meetingMr. Richard MasundireDirectorRegional Early Warning UnitSouthern Africa Development Community(SADC)Botswana

The Southern African DevelopmentCommunity (SADC) held a Mid SeasonStrategic Assessment and DisasterPreparedness Meeting in Maputo,Mozambique, from 4 - 6 February 2004.The meeting was officially opened by Mr.Isaias Mondlane, the PermanentSecretary for the Ministry of ForeignAffairs and Cooperation in Mozambique.It was chaired by Mrs. M.S. Lebesa, thePrincipal Secretary for the Ministry ofDefence and National Security in theKingdom of Lesotho, and was attendedby cooperating partners. The meetingwas sponsored by the Government ofGermany through InternationaleWeiterbildung und Entwicklung gGmbH(inWent), and by the United StatesAgency for International Development(USAID).

The meeting assessed the status of the2003/2004 rainfall season in order tocomprehend the prospects of theremainder of the season and map the wayforward.

FindingsThe meeting deliberated on variousnational and regional presentations onrelevant themes, and in particular thefollowing:

Food security concerns over earlyseason droughtThe meeting noted the late onset anderratic rainfall during the first half of the2003/04 season in most SADC MemberStates. This has led to an overallreduction in area planted and reducedproduction prospects for the season. Theregion may therefore not be able to coverits food requirements for the 2004/05marketing season. The Member Statesaffected include Botswana, Lesotho,Swaziland, Malawi, Mozambique,Tanzania, South Africa and Zimbabwe.Even the near-normal rains forecast for

the February – April period may notimprove crop conditions in Botswana,Swaziland, Lesotho, southernMozambique, southern Malawi, and partsof South Africa. However, prospects mayimprove in parts of central Mozambique,Namibia and Zimbabwe if normal rainfallis experienced for the remainder of theseason. The food security situation iscompounded by the low production thathas been experienced in most of theseareas over the last three seasons.

Water resources are lowThe participants noted that river, dam,and groundwater levels are low inBotswana, Lesotho, Swaziland, Malawi,Mozambique, Tanzania and South Africa,as a result of poor rainfall performance.The water shortages are affectingagricultural, domestic and industrial wateruse. A number of Member States arealready taking measures to mitigate theimpacts of the severe water shortfalls.

Localized flooding affectingcommunitiesHeavy rains in the upper-Zambezi,Cunene and Okavango basins led toflooding in some Member States such asAngola, Botswana, Namibia, and Zambia.This affected communities where riverineagriculture is practiced, as crops wereeither submerged or washed away.

Livestock in poor conditionPoor pastures have affected majorlivestock producing Member States andthere are likely to be unfavourableeconomic consequences. The affectedMember States include Botswana, SouthAfrica, Namibia, and Swaziland.

Increasing food pricesThere is anticipated pressure on prices ofstaple foods in most markets due to theprojected low production. In addition, themeeting noted with concern the fact thatthe transportation of foodstuffs hasbecome excessively expensive whencompared with the value ofconsignments.

RecommendationsIn view of the above observations, theparticipants recommended the following:

Assessments required to betterunderstand the levels of vulnerabilityCoordinated multi-sectoral vulnerabilityassessments should be given top priority,and carried out with urgency, so that anefficient and effective response can belaunched to assist affected communities.In order to reduce duplication and buildconsensus, these assessments must becarried out through existing national andregional structures.

Make use of second season and wintercroppingMember States are urged to make use ofthe near-normal rains expected for theremainder of the season and groundwater sources for potential secondseason crops where this is possible.

Improve emergency responseWhile Member States, UN, and othermultilateral agencies have donecommendable work towards the provisionof food assistance in Member Statesaffected by last year’s crop failure, thereis need to solve outstanding challengeswith targeting and addressing the impactof HIV/AIDS on food security.

Increased emphasis on disasterprevention, mitigation and preparednessMember States and cooperating partnersare urged to allocate additional resourcestowards disaster prevention, mitigationand preparedness.

Need to strengthen institutionalcapacitiesThe meeting noted that DisasterManagement institutions and VulnerabilityAssessment Committees have not beenfully instituted at the SADC Secretariat andin some Member States. The meetingrecommends that the SADC Secretariat andMember States strengthen their disastermanagement structures and functions. Thisentails strengthening institutions that arekey in these areas, including humanresources development.

Role of trade and marketsFormal and informal intra-regional foodtrade should be promoted as the first resortto resolve expected food deficits.

Partners in Action


Mr. Zachary AtheruClimatologistIGAD Climate Prediction andApplication Centre (ICPAC)Nairobi, Kenya

A Workshop on the Development of aRegional Strategy on the Factoring ofClimate Information in DisasterManagement was held in Nairobi, Kenya,from 23 to 24 February 2004 at theDrought Monitoring Centre, Nairobi(DMCN).

The workshop was organized jointly byDMCN and the World MeteorologicalOrganization (WMO) in partnership withNational Meteorological andHydrological Services (NMHSs) within

CLIMATE INFORMATION IN DISASTERMANAGEMENT : Towards a regionalstrategy in Greater Horn of Africa

the framework of a USAID-funded projectknown as Sustainable generation andapplications of climate information,products and services for disasterpreparedness and sustainabledevelopment in the Greater Horn ofAfrica (GHA).

Factoring of climate informationin disaster managementThe main objective of the workshop wasto review country reports and to developa regional strategy on factoring of climateinformation in disaster management in theregion.

An overview of disaster risk reductionwas presented, including the contributionof ICPAC (IGAD1 Climate Prediction and

Application Centre – previous name ofDMCN) to disaster reduction andsustainable development in the GHA, andUN/ISDR disaster risk reduction activitiesin Africa.

The country reports had useful findingsthat can be used to enhance theinterpretation and application of climateoutlooks such as:• Climate extremes and risk zone maps• Onset, cessation and duration• Climate extremes associated with El

Niño and La Niña evolutions ofclimate-related extremes

• Map patterns of wet and dry spells• Map patterns of climate-related disease

outbreaks• Map patterns of climate-related agro-

climatic zones

Workshop’s resolutionsThe following were the resolutions of theworkshop:The participants in the of the Workshopon the Development of a RegionalStrategy on the Factoring of Climate inDisaster Management:

Welcome:

The opportunity provided by the DroughtMonitoring Centre – Nairobi (DMCN), inpartnership with National Meteorological/Hydrological services (NMHSs) and withthe support of USAID/OFDA and WMOto identify appropriate ways of factoringweather and climate information indisaster management in the Greater Hornof Africa;

Recalling that:

1. The impacts associated with extremeweather and climate events often retardsocio-economic growth of manydeveloping nations, such as GHACountries, as exemplified by the 1997/98

Participants of the workshop

Partners in Action


Strong legal, institutional frameworks needed fordisaster management

El-Niño-related floods that wereimmediately followed by the 1999-2000 LaNiña-related drought and the 2003 floodswhose effects will linger on for alongtime;

2. The majority of rural communities whocontribute significantly to nationaleconomies and are most vulnerable toextreme weather and climate events, rarelyreceive and use weather and climateinformation due to poor dissemination,inadequate capacity to interpret theclimate outlooks and lack of awareness;

3. Weather and climate is rarely factoredin the decision-making processes of themajority of sectors which are climate-dependent, including economic planning;

4. That the impacts of the recent floodsand drought have aroused an increase indemand for weather and climateinformation and a general rethinking ofhow the region should cope with climate-related disasters;

Recognizing that:

1. Over 70 % of natural disasters in theGHA are related to extreme climate events

which are often associated with severesocio-economic impacts that include lackof food, water, energy and many otherbasic needs leading to famine; massmigration of animals and society; loss oflife and property; damage toinfrastructure; and disruption of normalactivities; among many other socio-economic miseries ;

2. The Intergovernmental Authority onDevelopment (IGAD) has taken aninitiative to formulate an integratedDisaster Management Policy;

3. The NMHSs and DMCN havedatabases and some capacity that can beused for risk zoning, vulnerability andimpacts assessment for planning andmanagement of all climate sensitiveactivities;

4. The NMHSs and DMCN provideweather/climate forecasts and earlywarnings that could be factored intovarious socio-economic sectors in orderto minimize the negative impacts that areusually associated with such extremeevents and that these products could aswell be used to take advantage of anypositive impacts ;

5. GHA’s agriculture, food security,health, energy, water resources, humansettlement and public safety are highlydependent on weather and climatevariability, and, as such, there is need fortimely and reliable weather information,data and prediction products to facilitateappropriate responses to enablecommunities and governments maketimely and informed decisions and soundstrategic plans ;

6. GHA heavily depends on its naturalresources including forests, wildlife,water bodies and environmentalconditions whose distribution areinfluenced by climate conditions and thenations’ major activities revolve aroundthese resources and, therefore, factorsthat can negatively change theirfunctionality require appropriatemanagement;

7. Weather and climate-related factorsplay a major role in the industrialactivities of this region, especially inrelation to the availability of raw materialsand the impacts of industrial pollution onthe environment.

Dr James Kamara Mr. Laurent Granier,UNEP Division of Environmental PolicyImplementation,Nairobi, Kenya

Even though there may be vagueawareness of the need to developsuitable legal frameworks withinstitutional arrangements to addressenvironmental emergencies, the viciouscycle of lack of capacity is still a majorburden in Africa, say two UN officials -in a report on a sub-regional workshopheld in Lesotho.

A “Workshop on National Legislation andInstitutions for Environmental Disasters

in Selected Countries in Southern Africa”was organized by the Government ofLesotho and the United NationsEnvironment Programme (UNEP) inMaseru, Lesotho, from 18 to 20 February2004.

The workshop was attended byrepresentatives from Botswana, Malawi,Mozambique, Swaziland and Lesotho, aswell as by a representative from UN/ISDRAfrica office in Nairobi, Kenya.Specifically, participants were drawn fromthe Ministries of Environment, theAttorney General’s Office, GovernmentAgency/Authority and local NGOsdealing with disaster management.

Environmental legislation-disaster risks/vulnerabilitiesnexusEffective prevention, preparedness andresponse to environmental emergenciescan be achieved best in the presence ofstrong legal and institutional frameworksfor disaster management at national, sub-regional and regional levels.This requirement forms the basis for thedevelopment of appropriate national, sub-regional and regional environmentalemergency plans, and, at the same time,serves as legislative authority for nationaland community-level measures andeffective systems for prevention,preparedness and response to disaster

Partners in Action


events implemented by variousgovernments and community agenciesinvolved in disaster management.

Limited capacity to promoteunderstanding of environmentallegislation-disaster risks/vulnerabilitynexus remains a major problem in manycountries in Africa. There is therefore aneed for clear understanding of inter-linkages between environmentaldegradation and natural andtechnological disaster risks andvulnerabilities, and for environmentalemergency prevention, preparedness,response and mitigation.

The vicious cycle of lack ofcapacityEven though there may be vagueawareness of the need to developsuitable legal frameworks withinstitutional arrangements to addressenvironmental emergencies, thevicious cycle of lack of capacity -which allows environmentaldestruction to proceed unabated withits attendant disaster risks andvulnerabilities -, is still a major burdento many countries in Africa.

For example, the same officials whobemoan destruction of theenvironment and natural resourcesthat predispose the people to disasterrisks and vulnerabilities, willinvariably issue licenses for suchdestruction, evidently takingadvantage of the absence orweakness in environmentalemergency law and the machinery forits implementation.

Need for comprehensivelegislation for environmentaldisaster managementThere is growing interest in Africancountries in the development ofenvironmental law as part of the globalexercise in the promotion of sustainabledevelopment through the use ofenvironmental resources, while alsorecognizing the inherent interest of futuregenerations.

Environmental law in Africa generallyfollows sectoral patterns as the policies.In a number of countries, however,separate laws put in place by sectoral

frameworks for environmentalemergency prevention, preparedness,response and mitigation at national,sub-regional and regional levels.

The immediate objective of the workshopwas therefore to bring together nationalexperts dealing with environmentallegislation and regulations forenvironmental emergencies in the fivePartnership for the Development ofEnvironmental Law and Institutions inAfrica (PADELIA) project countries toexchange information, share experiencesand lessons learned regardingenvironmental laws and institutionalarrangements that focus on disasterprevention and risks reduction in order tostrengthen national and regionalenvironmental emergency management.

Workshop discussionsThe workshop was conducted in aninteractive dialogue in order to achievedeeper and wider understanding as wellas build on any existing legislativeframeworks as well as on other existinglegal arrangements from which moreappropriate and focused laws could beevolved on environmental emergencymanagement.Discussions at the workshop focused oninteractive dialogue by the participants inreviewing examples of DisasterManagement Acts promulgated by someof the countries such as Lesotho andMalawi as well as other legal

ministries have been linked together inover-arching legislation and some newlaws have been put in place.The Partnership for the Development ofEnvironmental Law and Institutions inAfrica (PADELIA) Project - implementedby UNEP in partnership with donors -was therefore initiated in 1994 tostrengthen environmental legislationthrough awareness raising, capacitybuilding and training of national expertsin the formulation of environmentallegislation. However, comprehensivelegislation for environmental disastermanagement is either lacking or limited inscope in many countries in Africa.

The Maseru workshop was thereforeorganized within the framework ofPADELIA as a starting point forsensitisation and building awareness ofthe need to develop and/or harmonizeand incorporate environmental laws andinstitutional arrangements inenvironmental disaster prevention,preparedness, response and mitigation.

Workshop goal, objectivesThe main goal of the workshop wasto serve as a forum to sensitize andraise awareness on the inter-linkagesbetween environmental degradationand disaster risks and vulnerability.

It also emphasized on the need forappropriate legislative and institutional

Partners in Action


Comoros seek to improve disaster preparedness,contingency planning

Mr. Mohamed AbchirProgramme OfficerUN/ISDR Secretariat, Geneva

Following the most recent volcanic threatof the Karthala volcano and a requestfrom the Government of the Union of theComoros to establish a UN/ISDR nationalplatform to improve national disastermanagement, the UN/ISDR had organiseda workshop on the reinforcement ofnational capacities in disastermanagement.

During the workshop, which was held inthe Comoran capital, Moroni, on 4 and 5December 2003, the Comoran Ministry ofDefence, which is in charge of disastermanagement, introduced to theparticipants a contingency planningproposal.

To improve disasterpreparedness, contingencyplanningAs a follow-up action to this initiative,another workshop was held in theComoros on 17 and 18 March 2004 byUNDP-Comoros, together with the UNOffice for the Co-ordination ofHumanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and with

technical support from UNDP-BCPR(Bureau for Crisis Prevention andRecovery), UN/ISDR and UNICEF.

The main objective of the March 2004workshop was to improve disasterpreparedness and contingency planningin the Comoros.

The workshop was well attended with 38highly motivated participants: 12participants from the government of theUnion, 11 from the three islands (NgazidjaMoheli and Anjouan) that make up theComoran archipelago, 10 from UNagencies, 2 from the National RedCrescent Society, 2 from the civil society,and 1 participant from the media.

Specific objectives of the workshop were,among others, to introduce participantsto the principles of emergency planningand management; discuss the concepts ofemergency preparedness and response;consider the concepts of early warning,needs assessment, contingency planningand operations planning; begin thecontingency planning process which willculminate in the preparation of acontingency plan for a possibleemergency; provide an opportunity forparticipants to familiarize themselves with

each other and their respective agencies’capacities and needs; and discusscoordination arrangements in relation topreparedness and contingency planning.

Prevention also discussedA draft of disaster preparedness andcontingency plans has been producedand a Task Force established to completeand update the plan.

This Task Force comprisesrepresentatives of the government and afocal point in the UN system in each ofthe identified sectors. The Task Force isco-chaired by the Director of civilprotection and a designated member ofthe UN system.Even though the main focus of theworkshop was on preparedness andresponse, the participants, with thesupport of the facilitators, identifiedconcrete measures for prevention in eachof the identified sectors such as foodsecurity, early warning, water andsanitation, etc.

This really represents a majorachievement they can build on in thefuture for any activity related toprevention.

arrangements for environmentalemergency management such as those inMozambique, Swaziland and Botswana.

Workshop conclusionsThe workshop identified the strengths ofthe Disaster Management Actspromulgated in Lesotho and Malawi andalso the legal and institutionalarrangements for disaster management inBotswana, Mozambique and Swazilandwhere Disaster Management Actsincorporating the environmentaldimension are yet to be developed andpassed into law.

Gaps in both Disaster Management Actsand other legal arrangements were also

identified and measures for closing thegaps recommended. For example, it wasrecommended that existing Acts or legalarrangements should be reviewed asappropriate to clearly incorporateenvironmental dimension in disastermanagement.

Overall, raising public awareness onenvironmental management legislationand building capacity to ensureenforcement of such legislation wasrecommended as a must for all thecountries represented in the workshopand the governments should thereforepursue this as a matter of urgency andpriority in the development process.More importantly, the workshop

identified strengthening of coordinationamong stakeholders in environmentalmanagement and called on governmentsto take appropriate measures to establisheffective disaster coordinatingmechanisms at national and communitylevels which could be used as a basis forsub-regional and regional disastercoordination.

Overwhelmingly, the participants thenexpressed the need for governments totranslate and simplify disastermanagement policies, legislation andplans to local languages to enhanceunderstanding of local communities onthe need for their effectiveimplementation at the local level.

Partners in Action


Main follow-up actions• Completion of disaster preparedness

and contingency plans by the TaskForce established.

• National authorities, with support fromUNDP-Comoros, expected toundertake the development of a planof action as a follow-up to therecommendations of the UN/ISDRworkshop of December 2003 onnational capacity building for disastermanagement.UN System expected to ensure theintegration of disaster managementinto the UNDAF (UN DevelopmentAssistance Framework).OCHA and UNICEF to providetechnical support to UNDP-Comorosfor the completion and update of theplans.

UNDP-BCPR and UN/ISDR toconsider the possibility of a supportfor national capacity strengtheningand the completion of the disasterpreparedness and contingency plans.Some activities that could beundertaken by UNDP-BCPR and UN/ISDR, upon availability of resources,could be:

public awareness and education,development of institutional and legalframeworks for disaster management,support to early warning system throughthe Volcanic Observatory, community-level risk management, DMTP (DisasterManagement Training Programme),support to the integration of disastermanagement in the PRSP (PovertyReduction Strategy Paper) and UNDAF,and support to national coordination.

UN agencies’ support veryfruitfulDue to many factors including poverty(Comoros are one of the poorest countryin the world), governance and politicalinstability, the Comoros Islands arehighly vulnerable to natural disasters(volcano, cyclones, etc.).

As recent initiatives taken by differentUN agencies - after the most recentvolcanic threat in 2003 - to support thecountry and UNDP-Comoros were veryfruitful, they should be continued in acoordinated manner for the benefit of thepopulation.

KENYA: Towards women’s active participationin disaster managementUN/ISDR AfricaNairobi, Kenya

A Workshop on Mobilizing Womento Participate in Disaster Riskmanagement was held in Nairobi,Kenya, on 1 and 2 March 2004,attended by 38 participants - womenand men - brought together fromNGOs, government organizationsand disaster-prone areas. The two-day workshop was organized by theSoroptimist International1 Club ofNairobi, ICPAC (IGAD2 ClimatePrediction and Application Centre)and UN/ISDR Africa.

Women marginalized in disasterreductionAfricans are increasingly affected bydisasters, especially drought and floods.The increased disasters threaten people’slives and livelihoods, damage crops andinfrastructures, interrupt social servicesand cause economic losses.

Consequently, disasters have deprivedmillions of people of food, portable waterand shelters each year.

Even though there is growing interest indisaster reduction on the continent, itremains gender-blind. Nationalauthorities in Africa have not involvedthe participation of women in developingcountry policy positions on disaster riskmanagement.

The different impact of disasters onwomen has not yet received properattention, nor women’s potential role indisaster reduction acknowledged.Women in Africa are the main force forcommunity development and householdwelfares, but women are still amarginalized social group in disasterreduction.

Women are under-represented atdecision-making level in disasterreduction and management, and womenhave less or no access to informationrelated to disaster reduction. Yet, it willbe impossible for Africa to achievesustainable progress in disaster riskmanagement and sustainabledevelopment without addressing

gender concerns and mobilizing Africanwomen.

Women’s service clubdetermined to helpThe Nairobi club of SoroptimistInternational (SI) reiterated itsdetermination to work in cooperation withUN/ISDR Africa and Drought MonitoringCentre Nairobi (DMCN – previous namefor ICPAC) to mobilize women to activelyparticipate in disaster risk managementand to address gender concerns indisaster risk management.

It was to this end that the SoroptimistInternational Club of Nairobi, the IGADClimate Prediction and Application Centre(ICPAC) and UN/ISDR Africa organizedthe two-day workshop on MobilizingWomen to Participate In Disaster Riskmanagement.

The workshop, which was held in Nairobi,Kenya, on 1 and 2 March 2004, wasattended by brought together 38participants - women and men - from

Partners in Action


Mobilizing Women to Participate in Disaster RiskManagementRecommendations

Recognizing that gender concerns involve both men and women, both men and women should therefore be actively engaged in thedisaster risk management process.

Partners in Action

PUBLIC AWARENESS / ADVOCACY• Accessing national draft policy on disaster management to identify if it is gender-sensitive and responsive; and

recommending a national workshop with other stakeholders (religious organizations, government, NGOs, CBOs, womenMPs, etc.) to discuss disaster management policies from a gender perspective.

• Lobbying for national budget allocation for disaster risk management within constituency development fund, notably in theframework of the PRSP (Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper).

• Integrating a gender perspective in the design and implementation of disaster management initiatives like tree planting,dyke construction, use of climate predictions and early warning systems, and establishing mechanisms to review suchinitiatives.

• Establishing a mechanism to support elderly and handicapped persons.• Initiating literacy programmes to overcome societal challenges caused by illiteracy.• Proposal submitted to ongoing Bomas Constitutional Review talks for one third of women representation in local development

committees should be supported and mainstreamed.• As informed individuals, recommending to policy makers to ensure access to resources, in particular land and property

ownership, and take measures to empower women as producers and consumers to enhance their capacity to respond todisasters.

• Both women and men be trained and sensitized on land rights and inheritance.• Women to be more assertive about the top management role they play in individual households and use their skills towards

societal management of disaster issues.

INFORMATION MANAGEMENT• In creating awareness, religious organizations and local groups should be used as for a to reach women.• Educating women on disaster risk management through mobile sensitization units and centres.• Information sharing with communities and leaders.• Developing educational materials with a gender perspective on disaster reduction.• Introducing disaster awareness and preparedness in school curricula.• Using mobile phones to disseminate early warning information for effective disaster risk management.• Be culturally informed and custodians of traditional knowledge to be brought on board and the knowledge be identified and

documented: analyze all aspects of culture, select what is relevant and applicable and set aside what is retrogressive.Need for sensitization to certain negative cultural aspects and develop role models.

• Use of media in advocacy to play a major role in highlighting the role of men and women working together for change indisaster risk management. Editors should be sensitized on the importance of disaster management, climatology, hydrology,etc., and the importance of disseminating information on early warning.

• Utilizing local radio stations to discuss early and timely disaster management.• Disseminating information on disaster reduction in mother tongues or any languages understood by a community.• To get radio sets distributed to users in some priority areas as a pilot project.• Need for a FM gender radio station run by Soroptimist International Union of Kenya, which will deal concretely with gender

concerns in disaster risk management.

ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT• Capacity building for women to cope when disaster strikes, empowering women through mobilization, and working

towards set goals related to disaster risk management, coping skills.

COOPERATION / PARTNERSHIP• Forging partnerships and networks between governments, international organizations, private sectors and NGOs in

integrated and gender-sensitive sustainable development to reduce risks, and with relevant organizations in civic educationto get women into decision-making bodies.

• Women to liaise with district disaster management committees and incorporating existing Community-Based Organizations(CBOs) as focal points to train women.

• Networking all Soroptimist International members in Africa and elsewhere, ICPAC (IGAD Climate Prediction and ApplicationCentre) and UN/ISDR Africa to address all issues pertaining to mainstreaming gender concerns in disaster reduction.


NGOs, government organizations anddisaster-prone areas.

The event paved the way for enhancedcollaboration and networking betweenthe SI Union of Kenya and UN/ISDRAfrica. It also marked the launching of aseries of gender-oriented events that UN/ISDR Africa planned to carry out incooperation with partners like UN-Habitat, UNIFEM, AU/NEPAD andSoroptimist International clubs all overAfrica.

Workshop’s objectivesThe objectives of the workshop were to:• increase women’s understanding of

disaster risk management;• provide a forum for women to discuss

how disasters affect women and men

The story of Budalangi and its annual floods invariably make newspaper headlines every year, in April and August, inKenya. Two residents of Budalangi recount the story…from a gender perspective.

KENYA: Women’s, girls’ plight during Budalangitwice-a-year floods

Pamella A. Wakho & Hellen OkelloBudalangi residents

Budalangi Division is one of the six divisions of Busia District in western Kenya. Flooods are common in the division around the months ofApril and August.

Rainwater from some areas in Kitale (northwestern Kenya), which is carried down in River Nzoia, causes the floods in Budalangi.

The flood strikes mostly at night or at dawn. The waters travel at a very high speed and cause huge loss of family property. The floods strikemostly when men are away from home fishing in the inland waters of Lake Victoria (western Kenya). Women and children are the mostaffected, and are charged with the responsibility of rescuing family property.

Women and children start transporting things they consider important, like utensils, pots, chicken, etc. to safer grounds. Livestock like cows,goats, sheep are likely to be washed away by the rapidly flowing waters.

Upon reaching safer grounds, women are forced to build temporary structures to keep their property and children safe. Mostly, these sheltersare made of grass and sticks before the government and other humanitarian organizations provide tarpaulins. People settle in camps at highergrounds until their lands dry up.

The farmland is submerged in water. The staple food which is cassava goes to waste since it is spoilt with too much water in the land. Thewaters start smelling because of the death of animals and other creatures in the bushes. This causes diseases like diarrhoea, malaria andpneumonia.

Women and girls affected in these camps are with the following problems: insufficient foodstuff, early marriages, high school drop-out rate,high pregnancy rate, high rate of STD (Sexually Transmitted Disease) and HIV/AIDS infection, rape case, domestic violence (wife beating),divorce.

Focusing on the problems encountered when there are floods in Budalangi, it is important that the community, and especially the women, betrained in early warning and disaster management at grassroots level, so that the community will have strength and skills to manage the floods.

differently, and what kind of roleswomen have played in disaster riskmanagement;

• understand women’s needs in theiractive participation in disaster riskmanagement at community level; and

• identify areas of priorities tomainstream gender concerns in disasterreduction.

Output and recommendations• Better knowledge of hazards, risks and

vulnerability;• Better understanding of disaster risk

management process;• Good grasp of basic elements of

effective early warning systems;• Better understanding of disaster impact

on men and women and the potential

roles that women can play in disasterreduction;

• Consensus on areas of priorities inmainstreaming gender concerns indisaster reduction.

The workshop ended with somerecommendations made by theparticipants (please see Box for full textof recommendations). They said theforum provided by the workshop had tobe extended to grassroots levels. This,they said, would help to build women’scapacity in disaster reduction as anintegral part of sustainable development.

Partners in Action


IntroductionThe African Association of RemoteSensing of the Environment (AARSE)was founded in 1992 and was registeredas a Regional Member of the InternationalSociety for Photogrammetry and RemoteSensing (ISPRS) in 1994. The primaryobjective of the association is to increasethe awareness of African governmentsand their institutions, the private sectorand the society at large, about theempowering and enhancing benefits ofdeveloping, applying and utilizingresponsibly, the products and services ofGeoinformation Technology.

To achieve its objective, AARSEconducts bi-annual internationalconferences across Africa a part fromother awareness and capacity buildingactivities. To-date, AARSE, with thesupport of local and internationalorganizations, has successfully organizedfour of such conferences in Harare(Zimbabwe) in 1996, Abidjan (CoteD’Ivoire) in 1998, Cape Town (SouthAfrica) in 2000 and Abuja (Nigeria) in2002. The respective themes of theseconferences were as follows:

The Application of remotely Sensed Dataand Geographic Information Systems(GIS) in Environmental ResourcesAssessment in Africa; Lessons ofExperience and the Way Forward forIntegrated Development and Applicationof Remote Sensing and GIS forSustainable Development in Africa;Information for Sustainable development;and Geo-information for SustainableDevelopment in Africa.

The 5th AARSE Conference will be held inNairobi in October 18 – 21, 2004 and willbe jointly hosted by the Regional Centrefor Mapping of Resources fordevelopment (RCMRD), Ministries ofEnvironment, Natural Resources andWildlife and of Lands and Settlement inKenya, EIS-Africa and UNEP andUNESCO Offices, Nairobi.

It is also supported by United Nations ofOffice for Outer Space Affairs(UNOOSA), International Institute forGeo-information and Earth Observation

(ITC), United Nations EconomicCommission for Africa (UNECA), MapsGeo-systems Ltd among others. Thevenue of the conference will be at UNEPHeadquarters, Gigiri, Nairobi, Kenya.

The theme of the conferenceThe theme of the 5th AARSE Conferenceis “Geoinformation Sciences in Supportof Africa’s Development”. Informationtechnology and knowledge are the mainengines of development for the 21st

century. The New Partnership for Africa’sdevelopment (NEPAD) initiative aims atcreating a common vision and strategicframework within which all-existingAfrican development initiatives (bothnational and regional) can be pursued inan integrated and coordinated fashion.

Furthermore, it lays out a set of goals andobjectives to be accomplished by theyear 2015 that includes the eradication ofpoverty, putting Africa on sustainablegrowth and development path and toharness the benefits of informationtechnology and globalization for thecontinent. For NEPAD to achieve its setobjectives there is an urgent need tobridge the current information technologygap that exists in Africa. In particular, thedevelopment and application of geo-information technology in Africa is crucialfor its sustainable development andfuture prosperity.

The technology is vital for optimizing theproductive use of a country’s human andnatural resources, communicating thecountry’s comparative investment byreducing investor risk and lowering costs,improving governance, empowering oflocal communities to directly participatein development and creating businessopportunities in the provision, analysisand presentation of information.

The main goal of this conference is topromote the use of geo-information andICT technologies in sustainabledevelopment and management of Africaand its environment.

The conference will put strong emphasison the applications of various remotelysensed data (e.g., optical, microwave,

hyperspectral; high to low resolutiondata) in resources assessment,management and monitoring. It will alsoexplore the challenges and options forbridging the information technology gapthat currently exists on the continent.

The thrust of the conferencewill be onThe current development status of Geo-information technologies (Remote Sensing,GIS, GPS and ICT). The application ofgeoinformation technologies in theassessing and management of:Agriculture and forestry, soil, geology,water resources, biodiversity, rural andurban, coastal and marine resources,disasters, climate change and variability,environmental Database development andmanagement, GIS and predictive modeling,development of geo-spatial datainfrastructure, education and training ingeo-information sciences and earthobservation, national, regional andinternational polices on space technologydevelopment and application, spacetechnology and gender.

Who should attend theconference?The AARSE conference is a premier forumin Africa which brings together scientists,practitioners, educators, developers andvendors and policy and decision makersto discuss advancements (Latestdevelopments), applications, capacitybuilding and promotion of geo-information technologies in sustainabledevelopment of Africa. It is a forum inwhich participants learn and exchangeideas on the latest advancements in thetechnologies and their applications indifferent fields. Strategies for promotionand use of the technologies in Africa arealso discussed.

For more information, please contact:AARSE 2004 SecretariatC/o Dr W.K. OttichiloRCMRDP.O. BOX 18118, 0500NAIROBITel: 254-020-860653, 803320/2/9Fax: 254-020-802767 OR 861673E-Mail: [email protected] or [email protected] Updates Please Check at: www.rcmrd.org andwww.itc.nl

REMOTE SENSING: African association’s bi-annual confenrence slated for October 2004

Partners in Action


Ms. Christian Sikandra

A new standard for public warning hasbeen approved. It provides a commonway to express alert messages for allmanners of emergency situations: a“universal adaptor” for alertmessages.

Experts have agreed on a standard forhazard warnings across all manners ofcommunications channels. The CommonAlerting Protocol (CAP) standardaddresses the long-standing need tocoordinate the wide variety ofmechanisms used for warnings and alerts.The CAP inter-operability standard wasagreed upon in the EmergencyManagement Technical Committee of theinternational Organization for theAdvancement of Structured InformationStandards (OASIS).

A breakthrough standardtowards new alerting systemsWith adequate warning, people can act toreduce the damage and loss of life causedby natural and man-made hazard events.The key is to get timely and appropriatealerts to everyone who needs them and toonly those who need them. Yet,appropriate and complete alerting is acomplex challenge. A great variety ofwarning systems exists: many arespecific to certain types of disaster suchas earthquakes or typhoons, or to certainchannels for delivering the warning suchas sirens or television announcements.The diversity of the systems, which weredeveloped independently, is now achallenge to effective coordination. CAPprovides a means of addressing thisproblem.

CAP serves as a universal adaptor foralert messages. CAP defines one messageformat with the essential features tohandle existing and emerging alertsystems and sensor technologies. Thisstandard format can replace a wholerange of single-purpose interfaces amongwarning sources and disseminationchannels. From the perspective ofwarnings technology, CAP addresses the

concerns about compatibility andoperational complexity that have beenstifling development.

CAP is a breakthrough standard thatopens the door to new alerting systemsand technical innovation. For example,location-aware receiving devices can usethe standardized geo-spatial informationin a CAP alert message to determinewhether that particular message isrelevant based on the current location ofthe device.

Alert sender can activatemultiple warning systemsA key benefit of CAP for sending alertmessages is that the sender can activatemultiple warning systems with a singleinput. Using a single input reduces thecost and complexity of notifying manywarning systems. A single input messagealso provides consistency in theinformation delivered over multiplesystems. People receive exactcorroboration of the warning throughmultiple channels.

This is very important for research hasfound that people do not typically act onthe first warning signal but begin lookingfor confirmation. Only when convincedthat the warning is not a false alarm, dothey act on it.

CAP is designed to be compatible with allkinds of information systems and publicalerting systems, including broadcastradio and television as well as public andprivate data networks.

Rather than being defined for oneparticular communications technology,CAP is essentially a “content standard”:a digital message format that can beapplied to all types of alerts andnotifications. In this way, CAP iscompatible with emerging technologiessuch as Internet Web services, and withexisting formats such as the US NationalEmergency Alert System and the SpecificArea Message Encoding (SAME) usedfor NOAA (National Oceanic andAtmospheric Administration) WeatherRadio in the US.

CAP is also compatible with alertingsystems designed for multilingual andspecial-needs populations. By reducingthe barriers of technical incompatibility,CAP creates the foundation for atechnology-independent national andinternational “warning internet”.

A further benefit of CAP for emergencymanagers is that standardized warningsfrom various sources can be compiled intabular or graphical form as an aid tosituational awareness and patterndetection. When CAP is appliedextensively, managers will be able tomonitor at any one time the whole pictureof local, regional, and national warningsof all types.

CAP alert messages can also be used atsensor systems as a format for directreporting of relevant events to centres forcollection and analysis.

CAP formatEffective warning systems need to reacheveryone who is at risk, wherever theyare and whenever the event occurs. Yet,one must not alarm people unnecessarily.Systems must be easy to use, reliable andsecure. An effective warning messagedelivered by such a system must beaccurate, specific, and action-oriented.And warning messages must beunderstandable in terms of language andspecial needs, with attention to the priorknowledge and experience of thereceivers.

It is also critical that times, places andinstructions are easily understood. TheCAP format is designed to contain abroad range of information about the alertmessage, the specific hazard event andappropriate responses.

Each CAP message includes informationthat describes the message itself.Messages have unique identificationnumbers and may reference other relatedCAP messages. Identifying informationabout the message also includes thestatus and time sent, allowing messagesto serve as updates and cancellations ofprevious messages.

Experts agree on “Common Alerting Protocol”

Partners in Action


In addition, messages are identified bysource, and are compatible with digitalencryption and signature techniques thatensure the reliability and security of themessage.

The information about an event in a CAPmessage may be contained in multipleinformational segments. Eachinformational segment includes adescription of the event in terms of itsurgency, severity, and certainty. CAP hasseparate descriptions for each of thesethree characteristics. “Urgency”describes how much time is available toprepare; “severity” describes theintensity of the impact; and “certainty” isa measure of confidence in theobservation or prediction being made.

The event may be assigned to a category(e.g., geophysical, meteorological, safety,security, rescue, fire, health,environmental, transport, infrastructure)and is also described in text. CAP alsosupports the inclusion of associateddigital images and audio. The inclusion ofaudio messages, for example, allowswarnings to be broadcast directly onradio without requiring an announcer toread the message text aloud. Multipleinformational segments allow themessage to be transmitted in multiplelanguages or to multiple audiences.

Because each segment is associated witha geographic description, the multiplesegments may also be used to conveyinformation about bands of intensity. Forexample, an industrial fire might develop

the potential for a major explosion. Theincident commander needs to specifyseveral components: evacuation of thearea within half a mile of the fire, shelter-in-place instruction for the dispersionplume, and a request for media andaircraft to remain above 2,500 feet in thevicinity of the fire. Using CAP, theincident commander can send onemessage including the appropriatemessage elements for each area. Theincident commander supplies thegeographic descriptions, expressed usinglatitude, longitude and altitude, byoutlining a polygon on a displayed mapas he enters the CAP message.

CAP development,implementationThe information provided in CAP formatreflects best practices for effectivewarnings identified through academicreview and real-world experiences. In 2001and 2002, Art Botterell led the initialdesign of CAP through an internationalworking group of more than 120emergency managers and emergencyinformation technologists. ThePartnership for Public Warning, a USpublic-private partnership of agencies,vendors and academic experts, thensponsored CAP to the OASIS(Organization for the Advancement ofStructured Information Standards)Emergency Management TechnicalCommittee. Working with Art Botterell,other technical experts refined and testedCAP throughout 2003 and approved CAPversion 1.0 standard in 2004.

CAP has been endorsed by the USNational Emergency ManagementAssociation’s Preparedness Committee,the Partnership for Public Warning, theComCARE Alliance, the EmergencyInteroperability Consortium and theCapital Wireless Integrated Network(CapWIN). Applications using CAP havebeen deployed in multi-vendor eventsand field trials in Washington, D.C.,Virginia, Florida, Nevada and California.

Implementors of CAP already include theUS Department of Homeland Security, theUS National Weather Service, CaliforniaOffice of Emergency Services, VirginiaDepartment of Transportation, CapitalWireless Integrated Network (CapWIN),GeoDecisions Inc., E Team, Blue292,Warning Systems Inc., Comlabs Inc.,mobileFoundations, Ship Analytics,MyStateUSA, Integrated EnvironmentalManagement Inc., Hormann America Inc.,Oregon RAINS and NDS Ltd, amongothers.

References:• Common Alerting Protocol Version 1.0.

Edited by Art Botterell (Partnership forPublic Warning). Committee Specification.From the OASIS (Organization for theAdvancement of Structured InformationStandards) Emergency ManagementTechnical Committee. 10-February-2004.Document available on the Internet at: http:/

/www.oasis-open.org/committees/emergency/. 32 pages• See also the accompanying CAP v1.0 XML

Schema.

Partners in Action

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