Building African capacity for disaster risk reduction through networking, the case of Unedra

Although the actual frequency of hazardous events is less than in other continents, the
African continent is the most vulnerable to natural disasters. Due to inadequate human, financial and physical constraints, the capacity to handle natural disasters before, during and after a given event is very low. Realising this lack in capacity, the United Nations University (UNU) through the International Institute for Geoinformation Science and Earth Observation (ITC), the Netherlands started an initiative to build African capacity in Disaster Risk Reduction through the establishment of the “University Network for Disaster Risk Reduction in Africa”, UNEDRA. This African initiative is coordinated by the Regional Centre for Mapping of Resources for Development (RCMRD) in Kenya, Makerere University (MAK) in Uganda, the University College for Lands and Architectural Studies (UCLAS), Tanzania, and ITC. UNEDRA brings together African Universities with interests in teaching and conducting research related to disaster risk reduction. The entry and bridging point for member institutions is training and research at postgraduate level with keen emphasis on applying Geoinformation techniques in addressing disaster issues. To date several training sessions and workshops have been held under the auspices of UNEDRA culminating into an agreed Disaster Management curriculum at M.Sc. level, development of joint research proposals, improving publications by African scientists among other. This paper will highlight the UNEDRA activities and strategies as well as opportunities aimed at building capacity to reduce disasters in Africa.