Disaster Risk Reduction Techniques From and for Africa
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The document discusses the Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) Europe/Africa Platform. It aims to enhance knowledge sharing of DRR techniques between Europe and Africa. The Platform obtains DRR measures from both regions, structures the information and presents it online. Its vision is to widely deploy effective DRR measures by enabling users to access suitable solutions for their specific problems and contexts. It will focus on gathering more techniques from Africa and facilitating exchange between stakeholders.
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Disaster Risk Reduction Techniques From and for Africa
- 1. Disaster Reduction Techniques from and for Africa – The Role of the DRH Europe/Africa Platform Stefan SCHEER Wednesday, 18.30: Networks for Reducing Risks and Managing Disasters Prof. Djilalli BENOUAR University of Bab Ezzouar, Bab Ezzouar, Algeria
- 8. DRH Europe/Africa: Overview Page
- 9. Functions of DRH Europe/Africa OBTAIN – PUBLISH - DEPLOY Find Search Liaise Structure Group and classify Present Disseminate Re-use Get feedback
- 13. Present a DRR Measure (1) measure with a link to DRH-Asia
- 14. Present a DRR Measure (2) Semaphore system for scientific approval (sub-)hazard reference(s) DRR measure type(s) compiler/submitter (not owner) title, tags, short description
- 15. Present a DRR Measure (3) measure with a reference to a filled-in template
- 16. Present a DRR Measure (4) two measures from Africa
- 20. Don’t Forget … In order to face problems … … we need suitable solutions. Thank YOU!
Editor's Notes
- In my talk I will mention the DRH initiative as such, the regional node DRH Europe Africa, its functions in particular. Some of the functions of the DRH Europe/Africa node are still vision; I will mention how this node may be used, and what are our concrete steps in this moment.
- The Disaster reduction hyperbase Europe Africa node is part of the worldwide operating DRH alliance. Within this alliance the DRH Asia node up to now has the taken the lead mainly because it is the first project of that kind. It had been funded by the Japanese government in the aftermath of the World conference of disaster reduction in 2005. Now this node is in the production phase meaning that they have around 80 risk reduction measures in their database. They are operating with a scientific committee that gives green light after having inspected a proposal.
- The DRH initiative is supposed to make a major contribution to a chapter of the Hyogo Framework of action. ("Building on the resilience of nations and communities to disasters", the ultimate goal of this project is to realize a global web-based facility capable of disseminating disaster reduction technologies with a solid notion of implementation strategies. Special emphasis is given to practices which will help developing countries to increase their disaster reduction capabilities ) Basicly within DRH we try to collect disaster risk reduction measures, of certain quality. We put focus on both technical and non-technical techniques or measures. In particular, we also try to find techniques that are non-mainstream, which are used by local people; we call this type of knowledge also: indigenous knowledge. The DRH initiative tries to achieve worldwide cooperation in the field of disaster reduction, it tries to exchange such kind of knowledge, it should try to use any techniques as much as possible, in particular the re-use of a technique in a different environment or context. And last but not least an ideal goal would be if we were able to provide good answers to specific solutions. The DRH Europe/Africa node for the time being …
- Now if we break it down to rationales of the DRH Europe Africa node we can say: Our main focus for the time being is on Africa where generally spoken the resilience is quite low … compared with European countries; It seems that a concentration on natural disaster mitigation is not straightforward as many of the problems are interrelated … just to mention some of the aspects … Another aspect we want to put an eye on is that we want to reach the people –as it had been mentioned two days ago – on a grass root level; so we have to count with non-specialists And last but not least: one of the keywords I got in discussions here in Davos is empowerment of people; as it seems that state-owned governance does not always arrive on a level where it should arrive, it’s the people who are aware of their own responsibilities to make their own lives better.
- OF course the main objectives of the DRH initiative remain the same However what we want to achieve now is to set up some kind of structure we can work with: we need key individuals, groups, associations that want to show willingness to contribute, we also have to agree upon a workflow: who does what … The database contents must be built updated continuously according to new scientific achievements … but that’s not enough: we should be aware of the usefulness of all we are doing How are we going to measure success? Well, the database should contain a critical mass of DR measures A management structure, similar to what has been done in Asia, does it exist and does work And also we will have a well established workflow But up to now we have a first draft version available, it
- … has 11 measures … And we also have tried to link to some measures which have been published on DRH Asia … just to find out how a fruitful collaboration could look like. In addition the platform provides with general information on the overall project itself and on specific hazard information. For the time being it is the JRC which is in charge of promoting the DRH Europe Africa node; its URL can be found here.
- For example this slide shows the overview page, general information on the project as well as rationale and purpose. You can also see what kind of navigation we are currently offering …
- We are gradually implementing the three main functionalities of the node: First, we try to get knowledge on potential disaster reduction techniques: by finding interesting articles, by searching on the internet, mainly also be liaising with potential partners worldwide. Then a technique should be presented on the platform; doing that we have to structure the knowledge underneath, we try to classify the knowledge and to group it thus making it searchable and at the end also visible online. Users who visit the platform maybe interested in getting relevant information. Thus knowledge may be made downloadable and at the end also re-usable. Ideally the platform should obtain some kind of feedback.
- To get a disaster reduction measure there are several driving forces covering various aspects of intervention. On the other hand, disaster reduction measures could be of various types, as there are tool. Something concrete or of type software; however a measure could also be of type process, for example a training or instruction technique or a procedure to follow. And finally there is the type knowledge meaning something that is more in the brains of people rather than written down or implemented.
- The structuring process, as mentioned earlier, foresees an in-depth analysis with respect to availability, applicability, usability, costs of installation and guidance on installation and implementation of that technique. For that purpose a template has been generated. All these efforts at the end serve to better deploy the information, to disseminate it and to re-use it elsewhere. The structuring process also can produce a system of good and best practices, which for our purposes are slightly distinct: good practices try to produce different versions, often better versions of one and the same technique while under the light of best practice a particular technique can be viewed from the aspect of applicability in similar contexts.
- The structuring process, as mentioned earlier, foresees an in-depth analysis with respect to availability, applicability, usability, costs of installation and guidance on installation and implementation of that technique. For that purpose a template has been generated. All these efforts at the end serve to better deploy the information, to disseminate it and to re-use it elsewhere. The structuring process also can produce a system of good and best practices, which for our purposes are slightly distinct: good practices try to produce different versions, often better versions of one and the same technique while under the light of best practice a particular technique can be viewed from the aspect of applicability in similar contexts.
- Measures are described in a uniform way: in the so-called header we title, summary, hazards and sub-hazards, we show the type of the measure and possibly also the type according to the DRH-Asia classification. We show the status of the scientific approval and make a reference to a template if this is the case. Currently we are implementing a versioning system also which helps us in generating a system of good and best practices.
- Measures are described in a uniform way: in the so-called header we title, summary, hazards and sub-hazards, we show the type of the measure and possibly also the type according to the DRH-Asia classification. We show the status of the scientific approval and make a reference to a template if this is the case. Currently we are implementing a versioning system also which helps us in generating a system of good and best practices.
- Measures are described in a uniform way: in the so-called header we title, summary, hazards and sub-hazards, we show the type of the measure and possibly also the type according to the DRH-Asia classification. We show the status of the scientific approval and make a reference to a template if this is the case. Currently we are implementing a versioning system also which helps us in generating a system of good and best practices.
- Measures are described in a uniform way: in the so-called header we title, summary, hazards and sub-hazards, we show the type of the measure and possibly also the type according to the DRH-Asia classification. We show the status of the scientific approval and make a reference to a template if this is the case. Currently we are implementing a versioning system also which helps us in generating a system of good and best practices.
- The vision of the DRH Europe/Africa project is more on deploying disaster reduction measures. We would like to see any kind of user who seeks a solution to his/her specific problem by contacting the platform. The system should be able to navigate in the specific field of the problem and eventually come up with a list of potentially applicable solutions which might be rated, for example 90% applicable, 80& applicable and so on. Obviously the system must take into account also the context the user is operating; obviously a user with less economical strength has to be handled in a different way than a user with high economical power. From a DRH perspective the vision would be to satisfy as many users as possible, to follow the use of the techniques and to gain feedback. At the end, in some kind of wiki solution we could continuously extend, update and optimize our database.
- With reference to Africa we have to watch the particular need and the economical, social and political context of most of its countries. The EU-Africa strategy can be of help for us. Focus will be put on flood, earthquake and drought related techniques Currently we are trying to select key stakeholders from Africa who may play a key role in a steering committee which we hope we can set up during the IDRC conference in Davos. The goal and obviously the vision would be to promote downstream use of the techniques which are available on DRH, not only on DRH Europe Africa but also through an intensified partnership and collaboration within the DRH alliance. We invite everybody to contact us in getting more involved in the project.
- The state-of-the-art is that we are at the edge from purely academic platform to an operational platform, we have to do feasibility tests, check the usability of the platform, eventually adapt it so that it is continuously accepted. Other issues of importance will be the use of many other languages as one of the acceptance criteria will be the use of local languages.