“We will never successfully eradicate poverty or achieve sustainable development so long as we continue to marginalize disaster risk reduction.” - Magdy Martinez Soliman, UNDP Assistant Administrator and Director of Bureau for Policy and Programme Support on September 10 2015, at National Risk Atlas launch event in Kigali.

Billions of dollars are spent each year on rebuilding and recovering from natural disasters around the world. With the right data and resource mobilization, the effects of dangerous natural hazards could be mitigated. Rwanda is no exception to this, being a frequent victim of landslides, drought, floods, earthquakes and windstorms.

On September 10th 2015, the National Risk Atlas of Rwanda was launched, a tool that will be used to guide the Government of Rwanda in development planning and policy-making relating to disaster risk reduction. Produced with the generous support  of the European Union and the World Bank and in close  collaboration between the Government of Rwanda through MIDIMAR, and UNDP Rwanda, this is the first comprehensive risk profile in Africa. In addition to the Government of Rwanda, it is available to the general public for awareness and affirmative action.  

Rwandans will henceforth benefit from risk-informed and sustainable development decisions, which take into account existing threats and use resilient strategies to protect the livelihoods of the Rwandan people. The uses of the Atlas in this regard are many- taking the data provided and strategically building resilient infrastructure in high risk areas, to general emergency response policies in the event of a natural disaster.

The Atlas launch event was hosted at the Serena Hotel in Kigali, and was attended by the Hon. Minister of Disaster Management and Refugee Affairs, Ms. Seraphine Mukantabana, UNDP’s Assistant Administrator and Director of Bureau for Policy and Programme Support, Mr. Magdy Martinez Soliman, One UN Resident Coordinator Mr. Lamin Manneh, EU Ambassador to Rwanda Mr. Michael Ryan, senior government officials, district mayors and development partners and donors.

The launch effectively disseminated key findings of the report to stakeholders and the general public, while promoting the use and application of the risk information contained in the report. Ultimately, the Atlas addresses an issue that affects all of Rwanda. Hon. Minister Mukantabana reiterated this when she said that “disaster risk reduction is everybody’s business, it is a cross cutting concern. This is a call for all of us to work together, and to use this information extensively in our respective work.”

The National Risk Atlas is available to review here.