GEADIRR is looking for volunteers to participate in its activities in one of the following areas;
• Website development,
• Organise meetings and workshops with communities
• Quarterly newsletters
• Redevelopment of organisation brochures
• Undertake fund raising
• Support our activities

If you wish to volunteer in a way not listed above, please contact @geadirr@gmail.com

GEADIRR foresight at 2015 and beyond

At GEADIRR, we considered the year 2015 critical; one in which decisions that will impact on the youths, the elderly, the disabled, the poor and vulnerable were taken. The year marked the conclusion of three major international processes- the Sendai frame work (2015-2030) for Disaster Risk Reduction, replacing the Hyogo framework(2005-2015), the Sustainable Development Goals(SDGs) replacing the MDGs and finally the Climate Change treaty through the conference of parties. All these processes are interlinked and requires the effective collaboration to effect real change especially at the Frontline where those most in need work and live.

GEADIRR is a member and part of a GNDR initiative on the development of a Frontline database. This is a spatial database development from work carried by its members with aspects of socio-economic and environmental and cultural embedded for a better understanding of the situation at the frontline and also highlighting the cross-cutting issues of Disaster Risk, Climate Change and Development impacts on the lives of local population across the world.

In Cameroon, We are currently working within a network of six CSOs to contribute in one way or the other in the implementation of the above mentioned  international processes at the grassroots level through different networks. We would like to translate “more clouds into more rains”. And this would be achieved only when all stakeholders can join hands together.

Documenting Community Local knowledge on Risk Reduction in Cameroon

 

Through the initiative of the Global Network of Civil Society Organizations on Disaster Reduction (GNDR), a group of CSOs in Cameroon is working with local communities to assess their level of vulnerability, capacity, on-going actions, and everyday barriers to mitigating the impact of disaster risk (DR). A process entitled Action, Reflection and Learning, or Action on the Frontline (AFL) is being used to engage community members in capturing multi-hazards, multi-scale risk types; low intensity, high frequency (everyday) risk and high intensity low frequency risks in communities. Indigenous/local knowledge and local coping strategies are assessed in the process, with clear indications on how people living in risk (especially landslides and seasonal floods) prone areas are coping with risk impacts.

The AFL process combines traditional or local knowledge with the scientific approach to better sort out ways of addressing disaster risk reduction (DRR) at the frontline. Through an interactive scooping and learning process, community members become aware of common risks around them, by starting to engage through a set of simple questions, either as individuals or during focused group discussions that include youths, women, the elderly and the disabled, about risk types in their communities. This includes asking community members exposed to multiple risk types to list most important threats (risks) that affect them. The identified risk types are then ranked. For each type, consequences are listed. A discussion is then made of what local or scientific approaches are used to mitigate the risk impacts.

The outcome of a number of individual conversations or focused group discussions are mapped and analyzed, then results are presented to the community members during a reflection session. Other approaches such as community participatory mapping are included in the process in order, not only to prick spatial thinking in the community members, but also to better understand their terrain. These reflection sessions also provide unique opportunities for members to exchange rich local knowledge and learn from one another on coping strategies. Designing and agreeing on common actions to overcome identified barriers in advancing DRR in the communities is also part of the process with input from facilitators (community based organizations).

A case study in Limbe (southwest Cameroon) led to community members embedding regular reflections on the situation of risks in their community during meeting sessions which were regularly held but without focusing on DRR issues. With the inclusion of DRR in their weekly/monthly meetings, members of the community became more aware of the risks common in their community, were better able to utilize  shared local knowledge and coping strategies in mitigating them, and thus in contributing to building a resilient community in which members have better hopes of living safely together. This activity is contributing towards understanding disaster risks better. Common community initiatives like building sand-bag embankments, have been developed that are aimed at reducing risk impacts.

Limbe lies on the southwest flank of the still active Mt Cameroon volcano, so indigenous populations living around the mountain have strengthened their use of indigenous/local knowledge (e.g., distinctive behavioral patterns of domestic animals, movement of wild animals and birds from one part of the volcano to another, changes in spring water temperature…) to predict impending  eruptions. This knowledge compliment scientific approach through the use of seismograms in monitoring the seismic activity of the mountain.

The big challenge in most of these communities is how to effectively mobilize necessary support from corporate, NGOs and local government in order to drive needed change in their communities, and also in which way existing local and scientific knowledge can be effectively combined to address multiple risks affecting their community. Most of these issues are underlying risk drivers like economics, environmental and societal issues. Addressing poverty, week environmental management and bad governance, need for individual change, and adapting to current realities, are some areas that require focusing on more.

 

 

2013 International Day for Disaster Reduction (IDDR) celebration in Limbe, Cameroon

Geotechnology Environmental Assessment and Disaster Risk Reduction (GEADIRR) joined the rest of the world in celebrations marking this year’s International Day for Disaster Reduction (2013). “The International Day for Disaster Reduction (IDDR) encourages every citizen and government to take part in building more disaster resilient communities and nations” Click here for more information. It is a day to remind us how people and communities are reducing their risk to disasters and raising awareness about the importance of DRR.

This opportunity was used to raise awareness at a secondary school - Atlantic Technical and Commercial College (ATCC) Limbe, with the theme: ‘Facing Disaster Together with Persons with Disabilities’. This college has been chosen due to its proximity to a regularly flooded river Jenguele river that flows through the city of Limbe and students of this college has suffered from flash flood from just about three (3) meters location of the college  from the River.

Considering October 13 was a Sunday which was directly followed by public holidays in Cameroon; the celebration was shifted to Wednesday, October 16 2013.

The main activity for the day was the sensitization of students and teachers on the aspect of disaster risk reduction in the community. A talk was presented by GEADIRR member F. Cletius in which different types of disasters (coastal erosion, mount Cameroon eruption, floods, landslide etc) that has rugged the city over the last two decades with vary degrees of impacts was discussed.  The level of vulnerability of the populations and the college in particular was discussed with the conclusion for the need to undertake a critical assessment of the underlying causes of related disasters in the city and to kick-start a process of building a resilience Limbe city that will permit the attainment of the country’s vision of an emerging economic by 2035 through the integration of risk reduction strategies in every developmental projects in the city.

It was also an interesting interactive session with these active students who were interested and came up with some ideas in preventing disaster like building a retentive wall to hold the soil and digging good drainage for runoff to keep their classroom safe.  It was proposed by a student that regular seminars be organized in during the months of April or May to reinforce community awareness in order to prepare for the next rainy season.