Urban disasters highlight need for resilience in Africa
NAIROBI, 10 May 2017 – Rising disasters in Africa’s cities and their links with poverty and rapid, unplanned urbanisation are ever more apparent from tragedies such as the recent rubbish dump landslide in Addis Ababa, which killed at least 113 people.
Tackling urban risk will be a key issue when governments and a broad range of other stakeholders, including businesses and tech experts, meet in two weeks’ time in Mexico for the 2017 Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction.
The 50-year-old Reppi dump in the Ethiopian capital is believed to have housed hundreds of people who spent their days scavenging for food and items for resale. Though the dump has posed a risk for the past ten years, government plans to relocate those living atop it had not materialised before disaster struck on 13 March.
It is estimated that in 1900, about 90 percent of Africa's population in Sub-Saharan Africa survived thanks to primary sectors such as farming, hunting and gathering, nomadism, and fishing. Africa is now the fastest urbanising continent and it is projected that at least half of its population will live in urban areas by 2030.
Disasters continue to erode developmental gains from economic growth in Africa, especially in urban settings. An estimated 90 percent of the continent’s urban population is highly vulnerable to disaster-related mortality. Exposure to disaster is exacerbated by poverty, lack of early warning systems, poor risk governance and an absence of civil protection mechanisms.
In September 2016, a magnitude 5.9 earthquake hit northwest Tanzania, killing 20 people and injuring 269. The earthquake, which was felt in parts of neighbouring East African nations, also destroyed or damaged thousands of houses. Poor households in the region of Kagera faced acute food insecurity due to the impacts of the earthquake, and there were ripple effects through employment losses and a fall in remittances sent home by people working away from their home communities.
East Africa's Great Rift Valley, a 5,000-kilometre-long geologic feature that runs north-south from Lebanon to Mozambique, follows a fault line and is prone to earthquakes. The region, facing rapid urbanisation, also houses some of the fastest growing cities in the world and some of the largest informal settlements in Africa.
In May 2016, 51 people were killed when a building in Huruma, a predominantly low-income area within Kenya’s capital city Nairobi, collapsed. The incident happened during some of the heaviest downpours of the rainy season which started in March. An audit of all the country's buildings to see if they are up to code was ordered in 2015 by President Uhuru Kenyatta after eight buildings collapsed, killing at least 15 people. The audit report from the National Construction Authority found that 58 percent of buildings in the capital were unfit for habitation.
UNISDR has stepped in to address African urbanisation and the challenges faced in planning for this growth which in turn is straining the ability to provide basic services and adequate infrastructure. The “Making Cities Resilient and Sustainable” project, funded by the European Commission, will be implemented by UNISDR in 20 cities globally, five of which are in Sub-Saharan Africa. The project, which will be carried out at the local level, will support cities in the development and implementation of city risk-informed development plans to sustain urban resilience. The project is also being co-implemented by UN-Habitat who will focus on building local capacities in crisis-prone cities and supporting humanitarian partners.
The project is the first initiative under the ‘Plan of Action for Implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030 in Africa’, recently endorsed by the African Union Summit. Dire Dawa in Ethiopia, Uganda’s capital Kampala, Kisumu in Kenya, Praia in Cape Verde, and Yaoundé, the capital of Cameroon, pledged to scale up efforts to make their cities resilient and sustainable at a workshop held in Addis Ababa in February, to kick off the African arm of the project. Implementation of the Sendai Framework at the local level has faced challenges such as limited access to dedicated financial resources for disaster risk reduction and lack of systems to collect, store and manage disaster data.
At the workshop attended by representatives of the five African cities, donors, and civil society, the need for a paradigm shift from managing urbanisation to better management of rural areas was emphasised. The need for provision of infrastructure and social services in rural areas to curb rural-urban migration was also highlighted.
Linkages were also made to the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, the 11th of which seeks to make cities inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable. The initiative also aligns with the New Urban Agenda, adopted by the international community last year, which sets a global standard for sustainable urban development.
The Sendai Framework, approved at a global conference in 2015, identifies unplanned and rapid urbanisation as an underlying disaster risk driver and calls for the establishment of mechanisms and incentives to ensure high levels of compliance in urban planning and development at the national and local level. The framework also calls for the mainstreaming of disaster risk assessments into land use policy development and implementation, and incorporation of disaster risk reduction measures into urban development.
"Mashambulizi ya mjini yanaonyesha haja ya kuwa na uwezo wa kukabiliana na misiba Afrika, ""alisema Waziri Mkuu wa Umoja wa Mataifa, Neyrobi, ambaye amesema misiba ya miji ya Afrika na uhusiano wake na umaskini na maendeleo ya haraka ya mijini, ni dhahiri zaidi kutokana na msiba kama vile mlipuko wa takwimu za takwimu za takwimu za takwimu za takwimu za takwimu za takwimu za takwimu za takwimu za takwimu za takwimu za takwimu za takwimu za takwimu." "Kushughulikia hatari za mijini itakuwa suala muhimu wakati serikali na wadau wengine mbalimbali, ikiwa ni pamoja na wafanyabiashara na wataalamu wa teknolojia, watakutana katika wiki mbili huko Mexico kwa ""Mkutano wa Ulimwenguni wa Kupunguza Hatari za Msiba wa 2017.""" Makazi ya Reppi, mji mkuu wa Ethiopia, ambayo ni ya miaka 50 sasa, ni mahali pa kuhifadhia mamia ya watu ambao wamekuwa wakitafuta chakula na vitu vya kuuza. Ingawa eneo hilo la kutupwa limekuwa hatari kwa miaka kumi iliyopita, mipango ya serikali ya kuhamisha watu wanaoishi juu yake haikuwa imetimizwa kabla ya msiba huo kutokea Machi 13. Inakadiriwa kwamba mwaka 1900, karibu asilimia 90 ya wakazi wa Afrika Kusini mwa Jangwa la Sahara waliishi kwa sababu ya shughuli za kilimo, uwindaji na kukusanya, uhamiaji, na uvuvi. Afrika sasa ni bara linaloendelea kupanuka kwa kasi zaidi na inatarajiwa kwamba angalau nusu ya idadi ya watu wake wataishi katika maeneo ya mijini ifikapo 2030. Misiba inaendelea kuharibu faida za maendeleo kutoka kwa ukuaji wa kiuchumi barani Afrika, haswa katika mazingira ya mijini. Inakadiriwa kuwa asilimia 90 ya wakazi wa miji ya bara hilo wanaathiriwa sana na vifo vinavyohusiana na misiba. Uwezekano wa kuathiriwa na misiba unazidishwa na umaskini, ukosefu wa mifumo ya onyo la mapema, usimamizi duni wa hatari na ukosefu wa mifumo ya ulinzi wa kiraia. Mnamo Septemba 2016, tetemeko la ardhi lenye ukubwa wa 5.9 liligonga kaskazini magharibi mwa Tanzania, likisababisha vifo vya watu 20 na kujeruhiwa watu 269. Tetemeko hilo, ambalo lilihisiwa katika sehemu fulani za mataifa jirani ya Afrika Mashariki, pia liliharibu au kuharibu maelfu ya nyumba. Familia maskini katika eneo la Kagera zilikabiliwa na ukosefu mkubwa wa usalama wa chakula kutokana na athari za tetemeko hilo, na kulikuwa na athari za kuenea kupitia upotezaji wa ajira na kupungua kwa fedha zinazotumwa nyumbani na watu wanaofanya kazi mbali na jamii zao. Bonde la Rift la Afrika Mashariki, eneo lenye urefu wa kilomita 5,000 linaloanzia Lebanon hadi Msumbiji, lina sehemu ya eneo la chini ya ardhi na linaweza kusababisha matetemeko ya ardhi. Mkoa huo, unaokabiliwa na ukuaji wa haraka wa mijini, pia una baadhi ya miji inayokua kwa kasi zaidi ulimwenguni na baadhi ya makazi makubwa ya kawaida barani Afrika. Mnamo Mei 2016, watu 51 waliuawa wakati jengo moja lilipovunjika huko Huruma, eneo lenye watu wa hali ya chini katika mji mkuu wa Kenya, Nairobi. Tukio hilo lilitokea wakati wa baadhi ya mvua kubwa zaidi za msimu wa mvua ambao ulianza Machi. Uchunguzi wa majengo yote nchini humo ili kuona kama yanakidhi viwango vya sheria uligawanywa mwaka 2015 na Rais Uhuru Kenyatta baada ya majengo manane kuanguka, na kuua watu 15. Ripoti ya ukaguzi wa Mamlaka ya Ujenzi ya Kitaifa iligundua kuwa asilimia 58 ya majengo katika mji mkuu hayakufaa kwa makazi. UNISDR imeingilia kati kushughulikia mijini ya Afrika na changamoto zinazokabiliwa katika kupanga ukuaji huu ambao kwa upande wake unazidisha uwezo wa kutoa huduma za msingi na miundombinu ya kutosha. Mradi wa "Kufanya Miji kuwa na Uwezo wa Kukabiliana na Uendelevu" unaofadhiliwa na Tume ya Ulaya, utatekelezwa na UNISDR katika miji 20 ulimwenguni, ambayo mitano iko katika Afrika Kusini mwa Jangwa la Sahara. Mradi huo, ambao utafanywa katika ngazi ya mitaa, utasaidia miji katika maendeleo na utekelezaji wa mipango ya maendeleo ya hatari ya jiji ili kudumisha nguvu za mijini. Mradi huo pia unaendeshwa na Umoja wa Mataifa, UN-Habitat, ambayo itazingatia kujenga uwezo wa mitaa katika miji inayokabiliwa na mgogoro na kusaidia washirika wa kibinadamu. Mpango huo ni wa kwanza chini ya Mpango wa Utekelezaji wa Mfumo wa Sendai wa Kupunguza Hatari za Msiba 2015-2030 katika Afrika, ambao umekubaliwa hivi karibuni na Mkutano wa Umoja wa Afrika. Mji wa Dire Dawa nchini Ethiopia, mji mkuu wa Uganda Kampala, mji mkuu wa Kenya Kisumu, mji mkuu wa Cape Verde Praia na mji mkuu wa Cameroon Yaoundé, wameahidi kuongeza juhudi za kufanya miji yao iwe na nguvu na kudumu katika semina iliyofanyika Addis Ababa mwezi Februari, kuanzisha sehemu ya Afrika ya mradi huo. Utekelezaji wa Sendai Framework katika ngazi ya ndani umekabiliwa na changamoto kama vile upatikanaji mdogo wa rasilimali za kifedha za kujitolea kwa kupunguza hatari ya maafa na ukosefu wa mifumo ya kukusanya, kuhifadhi na kusimamia data ya maafa. Katika semina hiyo, ambayo ilishirikiwa na wawakilishi wa miji mitano ya Afrika, wafadhili na jamii ya kiraia, uhitaji wa mabadiliko ya mfano kutoka kwa kusimamia mijini hadi kusimamia vizuri maeneo ya vijijini ulikaziwa. Uhitaji wa utoaji wa miundombinu na huduma za kijamii katika maeneo ya vijijini ili kuzuia uhamiaji wa vijijini-miji pia ulikaziwa. Mkataba huo pia unazingatia malengo 17 ya maendeleo endelevu, ambayo lengo la 11 ni kufanya miji iwe salama, yenye nguvu na endelevu. Mpango huo pia unalingana na Ajenda Mpya ya Miji, iliyopitishwa na jamii ya kimataifa mwaka jana, ambayo huweka kiwango cha kimataifa cha maendeleo endelevu ya mijini. Mfumo wa Sendai, uliokubaliwa katika mkutano wa kimataifa mnamo 2015, unafahamisha mijini isiyo na mpango na ya haraka kama kichocheo cha hatari ya maafa na inatoa wito wa kuanzisha mifumo na motisha ili kuhakikisha viwango vya juu vya kufuata katika mipango ya mijini na maendeleo ya jiji katika ngazi ya kitaifa na ya ndani. Mfumo huo pia unatoa wito wa kuingiza tathmini za hatari ya majanga katika maendeleo na utekelezaji wa sera za matumizi ya ardhi, na kuingiza hatua za kupunguza hatari ya majanga katika maendeleo ya mijini.