Rwanda

The United Nations Satellite Centre (UNOSAT) and the Rwanda Space Agency (RSA) finalised a framework cooperation agreement to leverage geo-information technologies for sustainable development. Under the agreement, UNOSAT and the RSA will join efforts in utilising satellite imagery and geospatial data for various purposes, amongst which disaster management, environmental monitoring, urban planning, and sustainable development initiatives.

Moreover, through this partnership, UNOSAT and the RSA will actively contribute to realising the SDGs, encompassing various areas such as poverty eradication, climate action, gender equality, and resilient infrastructure. Geo-information technologies, including satellite imagery, remote sensing, and geographic information systems will enable more accurate and comprehensive monitoring, assessment, and reporting of progress towards these goals.

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Rwandans can now easily access land-use plans and other spatial data through the National Land Use Planning Portal (NLUPP).

The portal, the first of its kind in Africa, has been established on Esri's ArcGIS platform by the Rwanda Natural Resources Authority with the financial support of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

“Disseminating national and district land use plans to the public, facilitating access to information related to land use planning in Rwanda and increasing awareness and education on land use planning in Rwanda” are the primary objectives of the effort, according to the Rwanda Natural Resources Authority.

The NLUPP will help to increase awareness and transparency on land use planning in the country and the transparency, facilitate cooperation among data holders and end-users, and provide a platform for potential data integration. 

The upper legislative chamber of the Rwandan parliament passed a new bill on disaster management. It is the first ever bill in Rwanda that will address the management, prevention, and mitigation of causes of natural and human- generated disasters in the East African nation.

Besides disaster prevention, it includes rescue efforts during a disaster, the conduction of community awareness programmes and training personnel to be prepared to cope with a disaster.

The new bill has been approved in the aftermath of many occasions in which families had to leave their homes due to rainfall. All in all, natural disasters cost the tiny East African nation a total budget of Rwf 1 billion (1,4 millions USD) annually.

The 5th International Conference on Big Data for official statistics will be held in Africa, namely in Kigali, Rwanda from 29 April until 3 May 2019. The first 3 days of the week will be devoted to training workshops for African countries and a seminar of activities of a Data Science Campus for official statistics. The seminar will demonstrate projects for the African continent, including projects on Digital Earth Africa. The last 2 days of the week will be for keynote speakers and several high-level panels. This week in Kigali will show that new data sources and new technologies can also be used in Africa to get better data for better policies.

AfricaGIS is the largest Geospatial, Science and Technology conference on the African Continent. The conference is held every two years and is organised by EIS-Africa, a pan African non-profit organisation. The AfricaGIS Conference and Exhibition series have become a flagship Geospatial Information marketplace in Africa. For the past 20 years, the series have contributed immensely to the development of skills and institutional capacity in geoinformation across the continent.

The Conference will explore the role of innovations in geospatial information and its implication in addressing the 17 targets of the Sustainable Development Goals for an inclusive, prosperous and sustainable African continent. AfricaGIS will offer different interactive sessions including plenary sessions featured by valuable keynote presentations, parallel sessions for oral presentations, poster presentations and Exhibitions.

AfricaGIS 2019 will be hosted by the University of Rwanda and supported...

The primary aim of AARSE is to increase the awareness of African governments and their institutions, the private sector and the society at large, about the empowering and enhancing benefits of developing, applying and utilizing responsibly, the products and services of Earth Observation Systems and Geo-information Technology.

• Space technology in natural hazard and disaster management
• Integrated geospatial technologies in agriculture and food security
• Remote sensing Climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies
• Remote sensing for natural resource management
• Space and geospatial technologies for land administration and management
• Space technology for environmental monitoring and sustainability