Building disaster resilient communities in Kenya through the UNESCO

Points of Interest project

Roundtable on strengthening development of weather, climate and hydrology related

warning systems in Africa

Jaco du Toit, j.dutoit@unesco.org UNESCO Communication and Information Adviser

UNESCO Office for Eastern Africa

A laboratory of ideas by building disaster resilient communities in Kenya

The project has created an online Open-Source Map for Mathare Slumsthat serves as an advocacy tool for community organizations in the area

What is the UNESCO Points of Interest project about?

Information related to disasters in slum areas;

Wide range of information in education, science, culture and media;

Information needs to be communicated immediately in order to minimize the impact of disasters;

Information is communicatedby community members.

What kind of information is communicated?

After mapping dumpsites in Mathare civil societies are now taking advantage of the maps by engaging and following up with local authorities to make sure the dump sites problem is addressed.

Action has been taken by county representative in Huruma to remove dumpsites.

Impact of project on community

Community organizations and their interests were mapped;

Community determined information needs;

Community members were trained on the establishment of points of interest;

Diversification of platforms wasnecessary to engage all community members.

Who is involved?

Crowdsource map was created to improve communication;

Training material as OERs are developed and community members are trained;

Project is dependent on community engagement;

Information channels also include now sms, Facebook and Twitter.

How is information communicated?

Building disaster resilient communities in Kenya through the UNESCO

Points of Interest project

http://umaps.unesco-ci.org/

Jaco du Toit, j.dutoit@unesco.org UNESCO Communication and Information Adviser

UNESCO Office for Eastern Africa