This document summarizes Kenya's policies, regulations and institutions for emergency telecommunications and disaster management. It outlines Kenya's adoption of the Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) standard for public warnings, as well as relevant international conventions, national legislation, and the roles of emergency response organizations in using technologies like social media and crowdsourcing to disseminate alerts. Key points covered include Kenya's establishment of the National Disaster Operations Centre, adoption of emergency numbers 112 and 999, and license conditions for telecom operators to provide free emergency calls and public notifications during crises.

1. Kenyan
Case
study
on
the
Common
Aler2ng
Protocol
(CAP):
Tool
for
Emergency
Telecommunica2ons
Commemora2ve
Workshop
of
the
African
Telecoms/ICT
Day
2019
“Using
Technology
to
Save
Lives:
Emergency
Communica:ons
for
Disaster
Risk
Reduc:on
and
Management”.
Maputo
-­‐
MOZAMBIQUE,
5
–
7
December
2019
Presented
by
Mwende
Njiraini
Manager/Type
Approval

2. Emergencies:
DusitD2
Hotel
Terror
AXack

3. Emergencies:
School
Collapse

5. Interna2onal
Conven2ons
&
Trea2es
• Tempere
Conven+on
on
the
Provision
of
Telecommunica+on
Resources
for
Disaster
Mi+ga+on
and
Relief
Opera+ons
(Signed
2003)
• Sendai
Framework
of
Ac+on
on
Disaster
Risk
Reduc+on
(2015-­‐2030)

6. Policy
• Na+onal
Policy
for
Disaster
Management
in
Kenya,
2009
– Guiding
Principles:
• The
primacy
of
coordina+on,
collabora+on
and
communica+on
• Research
and
dissemina+on
of
informa+on
– Legal
and
Ins+tu+onal
Arrangement
• establishment
of
the
Na+onal
Disaster
Management
Agency

7. Protocols
• Na+onal
Disaster
Response
Plan,
2009
• Health
Sector
Disaster
Risk
Management
Strategic
Plan,
2014-­‐2018
• Na+onal
Protocol
for
Mass
Casualty
Incident
Management
in
Kenya

8. Legisla2on
• Na+onal
Disaster
Management
Authority
Bill,
2019
• Na+onal
Drought
Management
Authority
Act,
2016
• Kenya
Informa+on
and
Communica+ons
Act,
1998
• Computer
Misuse
and
Cybercrimes
Act,
2018
• Occupa+onal
Safety
and
Health
Act,
2007

9. Regula2ons
• Kenya
Informa+on
and
Communica+ons
(Broadcas+ng)
Regula+ons,
2009
• Kenya
Informa+on
and
Communica+ons
(Consumer
Protec+on)
Regula+ons,
2010
•
Kenya
Informa+on
and
Communica+ons
(Numbering)
Regula+ons,
2010

10. Guidelines
• Network
Redundancy,
Resilience
and
Diversity
(NRRD)
Guidelines,
July
2017

11. Licence
Condi2ons
• Provide
free
access
to
emergency
safety
and
assistance
services
• Permit
calls
to
interna+onally
and
na+onally
emergency
numbers
to
be
free
of
charge.
• Where
technically
possible,
forward
any
useful
personal
data
to
the
designated
emergency
services
providers
upon
connec+ng
emergency
calls

12. Licence
Condi2ons
• Provision
of
public
no+ces
and
announcements
during
emergency,
public
disasters
and
crisis
situa+ons
• Provision
of
safety
and
security
informa+on
to
the
general
public
at
such
occasions
at
no
cost
upon
the
request

13. Licence
Condi2ons
• The
Licensee
shall
facilitate
provision
of
informa+on
to
the
public
as
may
be
directed
by
the
Government
• Submit
procedures
and
opera+ons
plan
within
3
months
(Broadcasters)
or
9
months
(Telecom
operators)

14. Licence
Condi2ons
Numbering
and
Number
Portability
• Configura+on
the
na+onal
emergency
numbers
prescribed
by
the
Authority
(112
and
999)
• Deliver
free
of
charge
emergency
traffic
generated
on
its
network
to
Public
Emergency
Service
Providers

15. Emergency
Ins2tu2ons
• Na+onal
Disaster
Opera+ons
Centre
(NDOC)
• Mombasa
Mari+me
Rescue
Coordina+on
Centre
(MRCC)
-­‐
Regional
Mari+me
Rescue
Coordina+on
Centre
(RMRCC)
• Division
of
Emergency
and
Disaster
Risk
Management
-­‐
Ministry
of
Health
• Communica+ons
Authority
of
Kenya:
Na+onal
KE-­‐CIRT/CC
• Na+onal
Police
Service,
Kenya
Defense
Forces,
Na+onal
Youth
Service,
Kenya
Airports
Authority,
Kenya
Wildlife
Services
• Kenya
Red
Cross,
St.
Johns
Ambulance

16. Emergency
Technologies:
Crowdsourcing

17. Emergency
Technologies:
Social
Media

18. Common
Aler2ng
Protocol
(CAP)
• ITU-­‐T
Rec.
X.
1303:
interna+onal
standard
format
for
emergency
aler+ng
and
public
warning

20. Common
Aler2ng
Protocol
(CAP)
• CAP
is
a
standard
message
format
designed
for:
– All-­‐Media:
television,
radio,
telephone,
fax,
highway
signs,
e-­‐mail,
Web
sites,
RSS
"Blogs”
– All-­‐Hazard:
Weather,
Fires,
Earthquakes,
Volcanoes,
Landslides,
Child
Abduc+ons,
Disease
Outbreaks,
Air
Quality
Warnings,
Transporta+on
Problems,
Power
Outages
– To
anyone:
:
the
public
at
large;
designated
groups
(civic
authority,
responders,
etc.);
specific
people

21. Common
Aler2ng
Protocol
(CAP)
• Geo:
Geophysical
(earthquakes,
volcanoes,
tsunami,
etc.,
includes
landslide)
• Met:
Meteorological
(weather,
storms,
etc.
includes
flood)
• Safety:
General
emergency
and
public
safety
• Security:
Law
enforcement,
military,
homeland
and
local/private
security
• Rescue:
Rescue
and
recovery
• Fire:
Fire
suppression
and
rescue
• Health:
Medical
and
public
health
• Env:
Pollu+on
and
other
environmental
• Transport:
Public
and
private
transporta+on
• Infra:
U+lity,
telecommunica+on,
other
non-­‐transport
infrastructure
• CBRNE:
Chemical,
Biological,
Radiological,
Nuclear
or
High-­‐Yield
Explosive
threat
or
akack
• Other:
Other
events

22. CAP
Implementa2on
by
Country/Territory

23. Register
of
WMO
Members
Aler2ng
Authori2es
1. Has
an
opera+onal
CAP
system
(CAP
feed
URLs:
hkp://alert-­‐hub.org)
2. Hosted
an
in-­‐country
CAP
Jump
Start
3. Uses
CAP-­‐enabled
MeteoFactory
from
MeteoFrance
Interna+onal

24. Register
of
WMO
Members
Aler2ng
Authori2es
• Kenya
Meteorological
Service
– CAP
Feed
URL:
hkp://www.meteo.go.ke/cap/en/alerts/
rss.xml
– Hazard
Categories:
• Geo:
Geophysical
(earthquakes,
volcanoes,
tsunami,
etc.,
includes
landslide)
• Met:
Meteorological
(weather,
storms,
etc.
includes
flood)

25. Register
of
WMO
Members
Aler2ng
Authori2es
• Ministry
of
Water
and
Irriga+on
– CAP
Feed
URL:
[blank]
– Hazard
Categories:
• Met:
Meteorological
(weather,
storms,
etc.
includes
flood)

26. CAP
Implementa2on
in
Kenya
• Safaricom
PLC
:
– 2G,
3G,
4G,
Mobile
networks
– SMS
relayed
as
a
single
broadcast
to
a
cluster
of
mobile
numbers
to
staff
numbers.
• CAP
is
used
to
convey
– Early
warnings
for
natural
occurrences
from
the
meteorological
department
– Poli+cal
rallies
that
could
turn
violent
or
cause
traffic
gridlock,
– Accidents
along
major
highways
and
alterna+ve
routes
– Major
Na+onal
Announcements
– Informa+on
on
insecurity
in
parts
of
the
country
and
warning
staff
to
avoid
such
areas
or
seek
security
clearance
before
travel
– CEO
and
companywide
announcements
to
staff

27. Challenges
• Enforcement
of
legal,
regulatory
and
licence
provisions
• Informa+on
sharing
– Trust
-­‐
Veracity
of
informa+on
– Security
vs
privacy

28. Recommenda2ons
Enactment
of
legisla+ons,
Regula+ons
and
Guidelines:
• Cri+cal
Infrastructure
Protec+on
Law
• Guidelines
on
Disaster
Preparedness,
Response
and
Recovery
for
ICT
networks

29. Recommenda2ons
Review
Regula+ons
and
Guidelines:
• Importa+on,
Type
Approval
and
Distribu+on
of
Communica+ons
Equipment
Regula+ons
• Draq
Infrastructure
Sharing
Regula+ons
(Na+onal
Roaming)
• Registra+on
of
SIM
Card
Regula+ons
and
Guidelines
• Network
Redundancy,
Resilience
and
Diversity
(NRRD)
Guidelines
• Guidelines
on
Features
and
Specifica+ons
for
Mobile
Cellular
Devices
Imported
into
and
Distributed
in
Kenya

30. Recommenda2ons
• Implementa+on
of
Interna+onal
Standards
– Common
Aler+ng
Protocol
– Conformance
and
Interoperability
Framework
– Use
of
Emerging
Technologies
• Psychological
First
Aid
(PFA)
and
support