The Building Disaster Resilience to Natural Hazards in Sub-Saharan African Regions, Countries and Communities Program began in 2015 with the aim of improving natural disaster risk management in countries in the sub-Saharan region. Funded by the European Union and born out of the agreement between it and the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States (ACP), the Program is divided into five areas of work.
CIMA Research Foundation, on demand of the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) has carried on the component dedicated to the enhancement of countries’ capacity in gathering and analyzing the disaster loss data, in using risk assessment and in integrating risk reduction to development planning.
More specifically, in 2018 researchers at CIMA Research Foundation developed the flood and drought risk profiles for sixteen African countries. This was done using regional satellite data. The profiles combine a risk probabilistic assessment with an estimation of their impact. They provide a complete prospective, taking into account the uncertainty due to climate change and socio-economic development of the single country. Since it is not possible to think about sustainable development without the sharing of knowledge, national workshops were also organized as part of the project. During these workshops, the methodology, the results and the availability of risk profiles were shared with the host countries. The workshops also promoted the integration of scientific risk knowledge in decision-making processes.
In 2019, in order to enhance this last aspect, CIMA Research Foundation reviewed the risk profiles by integrating local knowledge and data for three countries (Angola, Tanzania and Zambia), in close partnership with local institutions. In addition to this, CIMA’s team developed of guidelines for the use of profiles, a tool that can provide a support for national political decisions in each country. In order to improve the availability and accessibility of the risk profiles, researchers made assessments of the institutional frameworks, orientated at identifying the critical aspects on which efforts should be concentrated. Finally, CIMA Research Foundation developed a web platform for the risk profiles to encourage their use and improve the coordination and data exchange between institutions both at international and national level.
