Objective 2:
Identify, assess and monitor disaster risk and en-hance early warning/ Improve identification and assessment of disaster risks.
At the regional level, there is currently lack of coor-dinated early warning systems, except for detect-ing conflict-related emergencies. So far there has been no comprehensive risk assessment in Africa, but the Regional Platform and meetings of the Africa Working Group have provided opportuni-ties for monitoring of progress.
Hyogo Framework for Action Priority 3/Africa Regional Strategy for Disaster Risk Reduction Objectives 3 & 4:
Use knowledge, innovation and education to build a culture of safety and resilience at all levels/
Increase public awareness of disaster risk reduc-tion and enhance knowledge management.
The Declaration of the Second African Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction called upon the African Union Commission, the NEPAD Planning and Coordination Agency, regional eco-nomic communities and member States to create a network of capacity development institutions for training, research, and information
manage-ment and exchange at country, subregional and regional levels, in collaboration with international and regional partners. Higher education insti-tutions have heeded that call, and disaster risk reduction education and research are being in-creasingly integrated in university curricula and education programmes. A good example is the Partners Enhancing Resilience to People Exposed to Risks in Africa, a consortium of 10 African uni-versities established in 2006 and coordinated at Stellenbosch University, South Africa, which is committed to strengthening strategic capacity to reduce and manage contextually relevant disaster risks in Africa.
Hyogo Framework for Action Priority 4:
Reduce the underlying risk factors (including link-age with climate change)
At the strategic level, the Programme of Action for Implementation of the Africa Regional Strategy for Disaster Risk Reduction was revised in 2010 to integrate climate change, while the draft Africa Climate Change Strategy integrates disaster risk reduction as an important tool for climate change adaptation.
Hyogo Framework for Action Priority 5/Africa Regional Strategy for Disaster Risk Reduction Objective 6:
Strengthen disaster preparedness for effective re-sponse at all levels/Integrate disaster risk reduc-tion in emergency response management.
The development of a humanitarian policy within disaster risk reduction is an effort to integrate dis-aster risk reduction into emergency response.
In conclusion, significant efforts and achieve-ments have been made at regional level. Policy and strategic frameworks have been put in place, but institutional mechanisms for coordination and continue to be weak.
4.4.2 Implementation of disaster risk reduction at subregional level
a) At the subregional level as well, the majority of progress has been recorded in the devel-opment of strategies and policy frameworks that provide a basis for disaster risk reduc-tion. Nearly all regional economic communi-ties, with exception of ECCAS, have disaster risk reduction or disaster risk management frameworks that are fashioned after the Africa Regional Strategy for Disaster Risk Reduction or the Hyogo Framework for Action. They also have units devoted to disaster risk reduction.
It is therefore fair to conclude that at the insti-tutional level, disaster risk reduction has been mainstreamed into most of the regional eco-nomic communities.
b) Progress has also been significant in other areas. IGAD has developed Hazard Maps and an Atlas that maps of the main hazards in the subregion. This tool address priority 2 of the Hyogo Framework for Action, which calls for hazard mapping and risk assessment as an es-sential step in mainstreaming of disaster risk reduction. It enables targeted disaster risk re-duction programmes in the most vulnerable areas or communities.
c) In the EAC, IGAD and SADC, climate outlook forums have become powerful tools for cli-mate prediction and early warning on clicli-mate events. Examples include the Southern Africa Climate Outlook Forum (SARCOF) and the Greater Horn of Africa Climate Outlook Forum (GHACOF). These forums bring together tional disaster risk management offices, na-tional meteorological departments, sectoral ministries, academia and other stakeholders to disseminate seasonal climate forecasts and predictions for the upcoming seasons. The multisectoral and multidisciplinary character of these forums makes them a powerful op-portunity for advocacy for mainstreaming dis-aster risk reduction.
d) Vulnerability assessment processes are well established in the SADC subregion. The SADC Regional Vulnerability Assessment Committee, which was established in 1999, works through 10 of the 15 National Vulnerability Assessment Committees of SADC member States. This is a well-institutionalized process for identifica-tion of risks and vulnerabilities.
e) The regional economic communities are as-sisting member countries with public aware-ness and advocacy. Many higher education institutions are also mainstreaming disaster risk reduction into their academic curricula as well as undertaking policy-relevant research on disaster risk reduction themes. For exam-ple, an effort by the African Union to under-take inventory of higher education institutions with research and education programmes in disaster risk reduction received 17 submis-sions from across the region: four each from the EAC, IGAD, SADC, and ECCAS, and nine from ECOWAS (African Union Commission, February 2013).
f ) Many subregions are now linking disaster risk reduction with climate change in their sub-regional frameworks. The EAC is particularly advanced in that regard, with the East African Community Climate Change Policy provid-ing guidance to Partner States and other stakeholders on the preparation and imple-mentation of collective measures to address climate change in the subregion while ensur-ing sustainable social and economic develop-ment. The aim of the Policy is to strengthen meteorological services and improve early warning systems, increase preparedness for disaster risk management and address other vulnerable sectors (EAC, 2010). Box 9 below provides a synopsis of various dimensions of implementation of disaster risk reduction by the regional economic communities.
4.4.3 Implementation of disaster risk reduction at the national level
Information on national implementation of dis-aster risk reduction is drawn from the biennial Hyogo Framework for Action progress reports.
This is part of the global reporting mechanism for assessing progress in the implementation of the Framework. In addition, to the summaries presented in the ECOWAS and SADC subregional reports, a number of progress reports of countries in other subregions have been examined. These are Burundi, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya and Rwanda from Eastern Africa and IGAD; and Algeria, Egypt
and Morocco from Northern Africa. Reports from three island States, namely the Comoros, Madagascar and Seychelles were also reviewed.
For West Africa, the ECOWAS subregional report reviewed implementation of disaster risk reduc-tion in a range of countries, namely Burkina Faso, Cabo Verde, Côte d’Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone, while in Southern Africa the SADC subregional report included assessment of the 13 SADC member States that submitted pro-gress reports (South Africa and Swaziland did not do so).
In terms of the Hyogo Framework for Action pro-gress reports, each country voluntarily assesses its progress in the implementation of the five priority areas for action. For each priority area, there are a number of core indicators, labelled (CI) in Table 11.For example, in Priority 1, for the indicator en-titled “National policy and legal framework for disaster risk reduction exists with decentralized responsibilities and capacities at all levels,” there are two questions to which a yes and no response is required:
i) Is disaster risk taken into account in public
in-vestment and planning decisions?
ii) Have legislative and/or regulatory provisions been made for managing disaster risk?
For question one, if the answer is yes, then evi-dence is required on whether disaster risk reduc-tion has been of interest in key development frameworks such as the national development plans, Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers, climate change policies, United Nations development frameworks (Common Country Assessment/
UNDAF). A yes answer to question two requires a description of the key policy and legislative frame-works and institutional structures.
Box 9: Implementation of disaster risk reduction at the subregional level
There are a few organizations that operate to combat drought in sub-Saharan Africa. ECOWAS is developing programmes on environment and natural resource management, including the management of desertification and water resources. SADC, through Water Sector Division, has an approved strategic approach to manage droughts and floods. The key institutional player is the SADC Drought Monitoring Centre, now known as the Climate Services Centre, in Gaborone, Botswana. The SADC Regional Early Warning Unit develops information on weather threats and conditions as well as drought, and works closely with the African Centre of Meteorological Application for Development (ACMAD). The mission of ACMAD is to provide weather and climate information to member countries through weather prediction, climate monitoring, technology transfer (telecommunications, computing, and rural communication) and research. IGAD operates a Regional Early Warning System as a key component of national drought and flood preparedness in the Horn of Africa. The IGAD Climate Prediction and Applications Centre in Nairobi, Kenya, is responsible for the Greater Horn of Africa Climate Outlook Forum, a participatory consensus mechanism for deriving seasonal forecasts. In the SADC subregion, a similar process is the Southern Africa Climate Outlook Forum. The AGRHYMET Regional Centre in Niger is a specialized centre for training and applications in agro-meteorology and operational hydrology. The services of these few technical institutions are limited, however, due to lack of resources and capacity.
Source: ECOWAS and SADC reports
The overall score on each core indicator is an in-dication of the level of progress achieved in de-scending order as follows:
5: Comprehensive achievement attained, with sustained commitment and capacities at all levels
4: Substantial achievement attained but with recognized limitations in key aspects, such as financial resources and/or operational capacities
3: Some progress, but without systematic policy and/or institutional commitment
2: Institutional commitment attained, but achievements are neither comprehensive nor substantial
1: Minor progress, with few signs of forward ac-tion in plans or policies
The following is a brief discussion on progress in implementation of the each Hyogo Framework for Action Priorities at the national level.