Natural hazards disproportionately affect lower-income countries and those who benefit least from wealth creation owing to economic globalisation. During 1990 - 2012, Africa faced an average of 152 disasters per year, majority triggered by hydro-meteorological hazards. In 2012 alone, over 37 million people in Africa were directly affected by a total of 147 recorded disasters.
With a view to building a holistic approach to disaster resilience for securing development gains in Africa, based on accurate risk information and improved decision support systems, a programme on Building Disaster Resilience to Natural Hazards in Sub-Saharan African Regions, Countries and Communities was approved to be financed from the 10th European Development Fund.
The ACP-EU 'Building Disaster Resilience to Natural Hazards in Sub-Saharan African Regions, Countries and Communities Programme', funded by the European Union (EU), provides an analytical basis for and accelerates the effective implementation of an African comprehensive disaster risk reduction and risk management framework.
Programme results
To achieve this objective, the programme has five result areas implemented by four partners:
African Union Commission (AUC)
UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction Regional Office for Africa (UNDRR)
Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery and the World Bank
African Development Bank (AfDB)/ClimDev-Africa)
Result areas
Extended Programme of Action for the Implementation of the Africa Regional Strategy for Disaster Risk Reduction (PoA 2006-2015) operational, through the improved AUC's coordination and monitoring capacity
Implemented by African Union Commission (AUC) and UNDRR, UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction.
African Regional Economic Communities (RECs) have DRR coordination, planning and policy advisory capacities operational to support their respective member states and regional and sub-regional programmes.
Implemented by the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR) and the World Bank.
Core capacities of the specialised national and Regional Climate Centres (RCCs) are improved, to meet the needs of DRM agencies and socio-economic sectors for effective use of weather and climate services and community-focused and real-time early warning systems.
Implemented by the African Development Bank, through Clim-Dev Africa Special Fund (CDSF).
African countries have improved knowledge of risks through, the compilation of historical disaster related data to inform the assessment and modelling of future risks.
Implemented by the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction.
Multi-risk financing strategies are developed at regional, national and local levels to help African countries make informed decisions and to mitigate the socio-economic, fiscal and financial impacts of disasters.
Implemented by the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR) and the World Bank.
