Nakuru, UK govt collaborate to enhance disaster management

The County Government of Nakuru has entered into a partnership with a United Kingdom (UK) funded organisation to enhance the county's disaster preparedness, response, and management.According to Nakuru City Manager Mr. Gitau Thabanja, the partnership with the UK-based organisation dubbed Tomorrow's Cities will involve investing in robust early warning systems that leverage advanced weather forecasting, risk modelling, and community-cantered risk communication approaches and is intended to address disasters such as floods, landslides, droughts, fires, and earthquakes, among others.The manager said that the devastation caused by natural calamities such as the Mai Mahiu flood disaster should be a stark reminder of Kenya's extreme vulnerability to climate-fuelled hazards, adding that due to perennial floods and other natural disasters that have caused havoc across the country, the question should no longer be 'if' another disaster will strike but rather 'when' and 'where'.Speaking during a virtual meeting c onvened by the two parties, Thabanja pointed out that Kenya must shift its focus from reactive responses to more proactive measures for disaster management and that the country needs to embrace anticipatory action approaches to risks and disaster management to mitigate the impact of future catastrophes.He regretted that despite the increasing frequency and intensity of extreme weather events, many Kenyan communities remained ill-equipped to cope with such disasters, mainly because there are limited or no early warning systems among many communities in Kenya, and those available are often unreliable.'Lack of mitigation has resulted in a vicious cycle that perpetuates poverty and vulnerability, particularly among marginalised communities who often live in hazard-prone areas,' observed Mr. Thabanja.The city manager outlined Nakuru city's challenges as rampant urbanisation, poor urban planning, inadequate infrastructure, and the increasing frequency of extreme weather events precipitated by climate change.T o mitigate these risks, he explained that the partnership will focus on several key areas, including a detailed geological survey of the city and capacity building for the city's technical team through training and knowledge transfer.The City Manager added that civic education and community engagement initiatives will be implemented to raise awareness about disaster preparedness as well as the development of a comprehensive storm water master plan.He explained that part of the approach was to empower the community to have ample time to evacuate or take protective measures, adding that this will save countless lives and reduce economic losses.The strategy, he noted, would include developing and regularly rehearsing emergency response plans and ensuring that evacuation routes are well-maintained, and accessible. In addition, social and behaviour change programs to help people, modify their beliefs, attitudes, adopt new ways of perceiving risks, and change behaviours, will be part of the package.In flood -prone areas, the city manager indicated that the devolved unit's administration was reinforcing critical infrastructure like dams and bridges to withstand extreme rainfall, and exploring other nature-based solutions.He assured that the County Government was setting up a climate change response initiative framework, a comprehensive action plan, and resource mobilisation.Thabanja explained that establishing community-driven data/knowledge systems linked to higher-level policy spaces is necessary to inform context-specific and adaptive responses to disasters.He expressed gratitude for Tomorrow Cities' support and emphasised the transformative potential of this collaboration towards building a more resilient and sustainable Nakuru City.Tomorrow's Cities is the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) and an Urban Disaster Risk Hub. The five-year global interdisciplinary research project is one of 12 UKRI GRCF Hubs funded through an UKRI Collective Fund award as part of the UK AID strategy to drive research towards delivering the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).The collaborative effort, involving 12 UK research organisations and 42 global partners, carries out its operations in the four cities of Quito (Ecuador), Nairobi (Kenya), Istanbul (Turkey), and Kathmandu (Nepal) to engage communities, coordinate research, and inform decision-making about urban hazard risk management.Combining local knowledge with research expertise, Tomorrow's Cities' work includes utilising drone photography to engage communities and help map the probabilities of natural disasters.It works alongside local authorities and people in urban areas so that they can plan for, prevent, and respond to the multiple hazards that threaten their communities.Source : Kenya News Agency