Malawi

Heavy rainfalls connected to tropical storm Ana have triggered severe flooding events in eastern Africa, affecting Madagascar, Mozambique, and Malawi. Flooding began after heavy rain in Madagascar on 17 January and continued with tropical storm Ana passing over the countries from 22 January.

In an effort to support the national authorities and their disaster management agencies, several emergency mechanisms making use of space-based technologies have been activated. These mechanisms aim to provide a rapid assessment of the situation, giving information about the extent of the event, affected population, and a first damage assessment.

By utilizing and analyzing available optical and radar satellite imagery, this crucial data and information can be generated, put into maps, services, and reports, which are provided to and accessible by the authorities and other assisting organizations for more efficient disaster response.

Below, you find a selection of links…

Millions of people in Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe are struggling to cope with the aftermath of Cyclone Idai, which has swept through this part of southeast Africa over the last weeks, leaving devastation in its wake. It is thought that more than two million people in the three countries have been affected, but the extent of destruction is still unfolding.

The authorities and military are working  to rescue people, but roads and other transport and communication links are cut off. In order to plan and execute this kind of emergency response it is vital to understand exactly which areas have been affected, especially as accessing people cut off is extremely challenging.

The disaster triggered activations of both the Copernicus Emergency Mapping Service and the…

The Regional Centre for Mapping of Resources for Development (RCMRD), UN-SPIDER’s Regional Support Office established in Kenya, has partnered with the Department of Disaster Management Affairs (DoDMA), the Department of Surveys, the National Statistics Office and other national stakeholders to develop a comprehensive national hazards and vulnerability atlas covering the whole of Malawi. The agreement was supported by the SERVIR programme, a joint development initiative between NASA and USAID.

The atlas and GIS database developed to cover Malawi in its totality represent an essential part of the activities carried out by the government of Malawi in its National Disaster Risk Management Policy willing to support disaster risk reduction in the country and prioritize areas for resilience building. Thanks to the support of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), five districts vulnerable to climate…

Upon the invitation of the Government of Malawi through its Department of Disaster Management Affairs (DoDMA) UN-SPIDER successfully carried out a Technical Advisory Mission to Malawi from 14 to 18 October 2013. Supported by the Government of Austria, UN-SPIDER invited nine experts with a broad range of expertise and diverse backgrounds in the space-technology sector, disaster management and crowdsourcing to join the mission team. The team met with key national, international institutions and organisations in Malawi to discuss the current use of space-based information and technology in the country.

A one day national workshop conducted on 18 October 2013 brought together over 40 participants and stakeholders from the academia, ministries, departments, NGOs and international organisation. A great variety of subjects were addressed including remote sensing applications for disaster risk management, land use planning for disaster prevention, the added value of satellite-derived…

At the invitation of the Department of Disaster Management Affairs of Malawi the UN-SPIDER Programme will conduct a Technical Advisory Mission (TAM) to Malawi from 14 October to 18 October 2013.

UN-SPIDER is currently contacting experts from the space and disaster management community to have the team defined by end of August. If your institution, organization, company or university is interested in joining the expert team, please get in touch with us, so we can provide you with additional information. UN-SPIDER is looking for professionals from the field of space technology and disaster management who are already collaborating or are willing to collaborate in the future with the authorities or respective institutions in Malawi.

TAMs are part of UN-SPIDER’s technical advisory support, one of the core activities of the programme. TAM experts meet during the mission with key disaster management authorities in the Government, UN agencies, regional and international…

The Disaster Management Tool (DMT) is a mobile field system that allows field workers and control center officers to interactively enter and retrieve information about the areas of interest. It uses sensors (like GPS receivers) for automatic data collection. It also allows an easy and fast flow of the situation information, also across organizational and jurisdictional boundaries. And finally, it provides dynamic and interactive situation maps and reliable data storage.

The basic idea of the DMT training, which was attended by one UN-SPIDER expert, was to explore opportunities for a follow-up pilot project together with the Institute for Communication and Navigation (IKN) at DLR and the Italian NGO: Cooperazione Internazionale – COOPI, UN-SPIDER’s partner within the Disaster Preparedness programme in the South East African and South West Indian Ocean (DIPECHO), funded by the European Commission - Humanitarian Aid & Civil Protection (ECHO). The envisaged…

Department of Disaster Management Affairs

Contact Person
Mr. James M.K. Chiusiwa
Tel: +265 999 937 952
Email: james.chiusiwa [at] dodma.gov.mw