Supporting disaster prevention and risk management in Antananarivo, Madagascar

Tropical cyclones, heavy rainfalls, flooding, landslides, and droughts: a major part of Madagascar’s population regularly struggles with these extreme natural events and with severe impacts of climate change. At the same time, the frequency of these events leads to considerable setbacks to the country’s rebuilding and rehabilitation efforts. The country’s vulnerability is made even worse by persistent population growth and an often unsustainable use of resources. The capital Antananarivo has been particularly affected by these risks in previous years. Most recently, cyclones in early 2015 caused devastating damage and flooding, the effects of which led to the evacuation of around 25,000 people.

Madagascar’s civil protection efforts are centrally coordinated by the Bureau National de Gestion des Risques et des Catastrophes (BNGRC); in Antananarivo, disaster risk management needs to be carried out in close cooperation and agreement with the office of the mayor and further local agencies. Despite a largely well-established network of agencies, the city lacks personnel, financing, effective emergency coordination and a functioning interface management between relevant actors.

Against this backdrop, the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) supported Madagascar’s government in improving the institutional structures and processes involved in disaster preparedness and emergency management. GIZ commissioned adelphi to take over the technical coordination of this initiative. This included the coordination and implementation of training and continuing education efforts for key actors in Antananarivo, the conceptual planning and implementation of awareness raising campaigns for households threatened by flooding, a needs analysis and the development of recommendations for supporting the city administration materially in their efforts to enhancing successful disaster preparedness and civil protection.