20TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE DISASTER CHARTER: A NARRATIVE OF THE AFRICAN EXPERIENCE AND A CHART PATH FOR THE FUTURE
- Paper ID
60648
- author
- company
African Regional Center for Space Science and Technology Education in English (ARCSSTE-E); National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA)
- country
Nigeria
- year
2020
- abstract
Millions of Africans live in disaster-prone areas. These disasters, which in most cases come with heavy impact on the lives of Africans, their environment and infrastructure, are either natural or man-made. They include flooding, landslide, wildfires, aircraft crash, ebola, storm, and tropical cyclone idai. Some of these disasters have been frequent, and of high intensity in about twenty-two countries of Africa including Nigeria since 2010. The International Charter Space & Major Disasters, which serves as an important source of satellite imagery for response to major natural and man-made disasters worldwide, has been activated many times in countries that have experienced some of these major disasters in Africa. The aim of this paper is to give a narrative of major disaster experiences in Africa and case by case activation of the Disaster Charter in the past 20 years, with the aim of charting a path for future cooperation in disaster handling. It gives the historical evolution and the present state of the operation of the Charter in the world. It analyzes the extent of the Charter’s application in Africa and the challenges. It gives recommendations for future application and activation of the Charter.