Zambia National Workshop on risk profiling for floods and droughts & Road Map to improve the availability, access and use of disaster risk information for early warning and action
Background of the national risk profiling process
In 2018, as part of the “Building Disaster Resilience to Natural Hazards in Sub-Saharan African Regions, Countries and Communities” Programme funded by the European Union, the National Disaster Management Authority, UNDRR and the CIMA Research Foundation have developed risk profiles for floods and droughts at national level for sixteen African countries. The Country Risk Profiles provide a comprehensive view of hazard, risk and uncertainties for floods and droughts in a changing climate and socio-economic situation, projected over the next 50 years. The profiles include an estimation – under current and future climate – of the monetary losses for a number of sectors identified by the Sendai targets, namely: housing, health and education, agriculture, productive asset, critical infrastructure, housing, services and transports. All risk profiles and associated results have been made publicly available on www.riskprofilesundrr.org
Risk Profiles combined with data on disaster losses and budget reviews of DRR investment provide a solid base of risk information to develop actionable DRR strategies and associated plans of action as well as climate change adaptation and development plans towards sustainable societies.
The project has evolved around national workshops aimed at sharing the risk profiling methodology and the results as well as exploring the application of the risk profiles in the development of Disaster Risk Reduction strategies at national level. Together with the risk profiles, the workshops have contributed at providing a more complete picture of the likelihood and impact of floods and droughts, while improving the understanding of risks and the related impact to each critical sector, as well as enhancing internal coordination efforts to prevent, mitigate and respond to such disaster risks and, by promoting the integration of scientific risk information into decision-making processes.
The national workshops have demonstrated the need of a continuous improvement of the risk profiles, to be made possible through the integration of local data and knowledge on hazard and exposure by relevant local institutions and actors. It is expected that the engagement of local institutions and actors will also facilitate and enhance the usability of the risk profiles in decision-making processes, based on the identification of the country’s own development priorities. Furthermore, the workshops have highlighted the need for a more accurate translation of scientific evidence into improved flood and droughts risk management, towards the substantial reduction of disaster impacts and its consequences on the country’s development efforts.
Based on the experience gathered in the previous phase of the programme and the feedbacks received from the partner countries, the Phase II of the project has been structured to enhance the ownership and uptake of the probabilistic risk profiles developed and foster their utilization in different fields of DRR, including for the development of inclusive and actionable strategies for disaster risk reduction, climate change adaptation, sustainable development, the support to the development of impact-based early Warning Systems for weather-driven events and for improved transboundary risk management.
As a result, the main objectives of the project are to:
1. Improve the availability and quality of disaster risk information through the consolidation of the results of the probabilistic risk profiles in selected countries – Angola, Tanzania and Zambia – and their integration with local data and knowledge, in partnership with the local institutions engaged during the workshop. Strengthen access to risk information by further engaging national governments and key stakeholders in the revision of national risk profiles and their mainstreaming of findings in national policies and strategies; enhancing coordination through empowering the National DRR Platforms.