DIMA CONNECT | ISSUE 06 — 22 SEPTEMBER 2026

Disaster Management Connect
Disaster Risk Intelligence. From Africa.

SEPTEMBER INVESTIGATION | AFRICA UNDER PRESSURE

THE REAL TEST IS INSTITUTIONAL READINESS

Across Africa this week, an important story is unfolding beyond the hazards themselves.

Institutions are being tested.

In South Africa, a SADC peer-review exercise is examining the country’s disaster risk management self-assessment. In Seychelles, an independent technical mission is assessing national flood-risk management capability. West Africa is confronting significant rainfall and flood risk in some areas while damaging dry spells threaten agriculture elsewhere. Central Africa is strengthening the institutional machinery intended to connect climate information with decisions. The Horn of Africa has issued a high-level political call for preparedness and anticipatory action. And African island states are strengthening cooperation around multi-hazard risk assessment, early warning and climate finance.

Africa increasingly knows more about the risks it faces. But how ready are the institutions expected to manage them?

That is the signal DIMA is following this week.

THIS WEEK’S SIGNAL | KNOWING THE RISK IS NOT THE SAME AS BEING READY

Much of the global conversation on disaster risk has understandably focused on improving forecasts and early warning. That investment matters. But better risk information exposes another challenge.

Once a warning reaches government, somebody must decide what happens next. Institutions need mandates. Plans need to work. Financing must be accessible. National and local authorities must coordinate. Emergency systems must communicate. Infrastructure and social-protection mechanisms must be capable of responding.

And those capabilities cannot simply be assumed. They need to be tested.

This week’s developments across Africa suggest that attention is increasingly moving from the existence of disaster-management systems towards questions about their actual capability.

THE DIMA SIGNAL
RISK KNOWLEDGE → INSTITUTIONAL CAPABILITY → PREPAREDNESS → ACTION → LEARNING

The question is no longer only: Can we see the risk coming?

It is increasingly: Is the system ready for what comes next?

DIMA FIELD NOTE | SADC DRM PEER REVIEW — SOUTH AFRICA

WHEN A COUNTRY PUTS ITS DRM SYSTEM UNDER REVIEW

South Africa is hosting a SADC Peer Review of its National Disaster Risk Management Self-Assessment, bringing regional expertise into an examination of national disaster-risk-management capability.

The process forms part of the emerging SADC Disaster Risk Management Peer Review Mechanism.

Unlike a post-disaster assessment, the exercise is concerned with the system itself.

It creates an opportunity to examine institutional arrangements, policy and legislation, coordination, preparedness, risk information, implementation capacity and the broader machinery through which disaster risk is governed.

If a major disaster tested the system tomorrow, would the institutional arrangements work as intended?

Peer review adds something particularly valuable to national self-assessment: outside perspective.

Countries become accustomed to their own institutional arrangements. Practices that appear normal internally may look very different when examined by peers confronting similar problems elsewhere. A neighbouring country may have solved a coordination challenge differently. Another may organise emergency operations differently. A reviewer may identify an institutional gap that has gradually become accepted as normal.

Done well, therefore, peer review is not an inspection. It is structured institutional learning between Member States.

FROM THE FIELD

Gravitazz is supporting the SADC Secretariat and South Africa’s National Disaster Management Centre in the implementation of the SADC Disaster Risk Management Peer Review exercise.

This provides DIMA with a practitioner perspective on the emerging regional peer-review process, while respecting the confidentiality of country assessments, discussions and findings.

The real test of the mechanism will ultimately come after the assessment.

When a weakness is identified, who owns the corrective action? Who finances it? And who checks whether it was actually addressed?

That is where peer review can move from assessment to institutional change.

AFRICA DRR WATCH | WEST AFRICA

TOO MUCH WATER — AND TOO LITTLE

The latest regional monitoring from AGRHYMET presents a strikingly uneven picture across West Africa and the Sahel.

Significant rainfall continues across southern areas while concerning dry spells are emerging across parts of the Sahelian agricultural belt.

Over the coming weeks, continued heavy rainfall in the south could increase flood risk, while dry sequences of approximately 6–10 days could affect crops during sensitive stages.

Meanwhile, water levels continue to rise in the Niger, Senegal and Lake Chad basins.

Agricultural and pastoral pressures are equally important. AGRHYMET reports difficult pastoral conditions across substantial areas of the Sahel, while rainfall deficits and dry sequences could affect cereal yields in several locations.

This is an important reminder of the limitations of regional averages. West Africa’s emerging risk picture cannot simply be described as either wet or dry. It is both.

Flood preparedness may be required in one area while agricultural, food-security and pastoral interventions are needed elsewhere.

On 22 September, regional institutions are also examining preparedness for the developing El Niño context, bringing together disaster-risk, climate and Earth-observation expertise.

DIMA WATCH: Compound risk does not necessarily mean that every place experiences the same hazard. Regional systems increasingly need to manage different—and sometimes opposing—risk conditions at the same time.

AFRICA DRR WATCH | CENTRAL AFRICA

BUILDING THE BRIDGE BETWEEN CLIMATE INFORMATION AND DECISIONS

Across Central Africa, work involving the Climate Prediction and Applications Centre for Central Africa (CAPC-AC) and the ClimSA programme is strengthening the regional architecture connecting climate science with decision-making.

The work goes beyond producing seasonal forecasts.

FORECASTS → SECTOR ADVISORIES → EARLY-WARNING MESSAGES → DECISIONS → EARLY ACTION

This includes stronger climate databases and modelling, sector-specific advisories, improved communication with users, institutional coordination and greater Member State ownership of regional climate services.

CAPC-AC’s continuing institutional development is particularly important for the ECCAS region.

A technically sophisticated forecast has limited value if disaster management, agriculture, health, water, infrastructure and local authorities cannot interpret it and determine what to do.

DIMA WATCH: The maturity of an early-warning system should ultimately be judged not only by the quality of its forecasts, but by the quality and speed of the decisions those forecasts enable.

AFRICA DRR WATCH | HORN OF AFRICA

THE POLITICAL COMMITMENT IS NOW ON PAPER

On 17 September, IGAD Ministers, Commissioners and Heads of Delegation endorsed a High-Level Call to Action on El Niño Preparedness, Anticipatory Action and Resilience.

The commitments are notably operational. They include updating national and local contingency plans; clarifying responsibilities for evacuation and humanitarian access; pre-positioning food, health, WASH and agricultural supplies; protecting roads, bridges and health facilities; strengthening surveillance for flood-related diseases; providing timely agricultural advisories; supporting livestock vaccination and managed grazing; and strengthening anticipatory action and resilience.

This moves the regional conversation beyond whether a warning exists.

The warning exists. The political commitment exists. The next test is implementation.

DIMA WATCH: Over the coming weeks, DIMA will be watching whether contingency plans are activated, resources are mobilised and preparedness measures actually reach exposed communities before impacts occur.

AFRICA DRR WATCH | SOUTHERN AFRICA

TESTING THE REGIONAL SYSTEM BEFORE THE EMERGENCY

The South Africa peer review is taking place within a wider effort to strengthen Southern Africa’s disaster-management architecture.

SADC’s Climate Services Centre and the SADC Humanitarian and Emergency Operations Centre (SHOC) have been strengthening cooperation between climate services, early warning and emergency operations.

This matters because regional systems must do more than exchange information.

When hazards cross borders—or several Member States are affected simultaneously—the regional architecture may need to support situational awareness, information management, coordination, technical assistance and emergency operations across multiple jurisdictions.

That capability cannot be improvised during an emergency. It needs to be developed, exercised and reviewed beforehand.

DIMA SYSTEM TEST: Can a regional mechanism move quickly enough from early warning and information sharing to coordinated operational support when several countries require assistance at the same time?

AFRICAN ISLAND STATES | RESILIENCE AT THE FRONT LINE

NINE ISLAND JURISDICTIONS, ONE RESILIENCE CHALLENGE

African island states face a distinctive concentration of risks.

Sea-level rise, coastal erosion, cyclones and extreme weather, flooding, drought and water stress, ecosystem degradation and highly concentrated infrastructure can combine with the limitations of small economies and geographic isolation.

The RESIslands Project is attempting to tackle some of those challenges collectively.

Supported through Green Climate Fund readiness financing and implemented by the UN Economic Commission for Africa with the African Island States Climate Commission, the programme covers nine African island jurisdictions:

Cabo Verde • Comoros • Equatorial Guinea • Guinea-Bissau • Madagascar • Mauritius • São Tomé and Príncipe • Seychelles • Zanzibar/Tanzania

The approximately US$4.94 million programme seeks to strengthen institutional capacity for risk assessment and multi-hazard disaster management.

It also aims to strengthen the connection between disaster-risk reduction and climate adaptation while helping island states improve their ability to develop resilience investments and access climate finance.

Mauritius is scheduled to launch its national component on 25 September.

The significance goes beyond the individual projects. Small island states share vulnerabilities—but they can also share solutions, expertise, risk information, financing approaches and institutional practice.

DIMA CASE STUDY | SEYCHELLES

TESTING FLOOD-RISK CAPABILITY BEFORE THE NEXT FLOOD

Seychelles provides a particularly timely example of institutional readiness being tested.

From 17–25 September, the Department of Risk and Disaster Management is coordinating a Flood Risk Management Capability Assessment Mission in collaboration with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

The mission is reviewing Seychelles’ capacity to understand, assess and manage flood risk while identifying opportunities to strengthen national preparedness.

The assessment covers flood-prone areas and existing risk maps; drainage infrastructure; roads and other exposed infrastructure; topographic and LiDAR information; rainfall and historical flood data; rivers and surface water; tidal and coastal information; climate trends; and previous flood studies.

Field assessments are taking place across Mahé, La Digue and Praslin, with preliminary observations and recommendations scheduled to be presented on 24 September.

There is an interesting parallel with South Africa.

South Africa is testing the wider national DRM system through regional peer review.

Seychelles is testing a specific national hazard-management capability through independent technical assessment.

Preparedness begins with understanding the capability you actually have—not the capability your plans assume you have.

DIMA CASE STUDY | WHAT’S WORKING?

MALAWI | MAKING SOCIAL PROTECTION RESPONSIVE TO CLIMATE SHOCKS

On 17 September, the World Bank approved US$165.9 million for Malawi’s Integrated Social Protection for Resilience and Opportunity Project — INSPIRE-O.

The programme will operate across all 25 districts and four cities, combining adaptive safety nets, climate-smart public works, economic inclusion and stronger digital delivery systems.

Of particular interest to disaster-risk practitioners is the introduction of additional drought-responsive financing mechanisms across Malawi’s ten most drought-prone districts.

The programme also includes modernisation of Malawi’s Social Registry, management-information systems and digital-payment infrastructure.

Why does this matter for DRR? Because disaster impacts frequently become humanitarian crises when vulnerable households lose income, food, livestock or other assets faster than conventional assistance can reach them.

RISK INFORMATION → PRE-IDENTIFIED HOUSEHOLDS → RAPID FINANCING → PAYMENT → PROTECTED LIVELIHOODS

The real test will be implementation: how triggers work, how accurately households are identified and, above all, how quickly resources can reach people when a shock occurs.

For now, Malawi represents a promising African practice worth watching.

THE DIMA LENS | THE REAL TEST IS INSTITUTIONAL READINESS

Look across the continent this week and a common thread emerges.

South Africa is examining national DRM capability through regional peer review. Seychelles is subjecting flood-risk management capability to technical assessment. West Africa is confronting contrasting hydro-climatic conditions requiring different preparedness decisions at the same time. Central Africa is strengthening the institutions connecting climate information to sector decisions. The Horn of Africa has converted regional warning into explicit political preparedness commitments. Malawi is building financing mechanisms capable of expanding support when climate shocks occur. African island states are pooling institutional effort around multi-hazard assessment, resilience and climate finance.

These are not identical initiatives. But collectively they suggest an important shift.

For years, a central DRR challenge was obtaining better information about risk. That challenge has not disappeared. But another one is becoming harder to ignore:

What if we know the risk—but the institution expected to manage it is not ready?

Institutional readiness means more than having a disaster-management agency. It means mandates that are understood. Plans that can be activated. Coordination arrangements that work under pressure. Information that reaches decision-makers. Money that can move before losses escalate. National and local systems that connect. Regional mechanisms that can support countries when national capacity is overwhelmed.

And, critically, institutions willing to test themselves before a disaster does it for them.

That may be one of Africa’s most important disaster-risk-governance challenges as the Sendai Framework enters its final years.

THE DIMA QUESTION

IF YOUR DRM SYSTEM WERE TESTED TOMORROW, WHAT WOULD IT REVEAL?

If your country’s disaster-management system were independently reviewed tomorrow:

What institutional weakness would you least want the reviewers to discover?

And perhaps the harder question:

Would that weakness already be known inside the system?

DIMA RADAR | EVENTS & LEARNING

22 SEPTEMBER | WEST AFRICA — EL NIÑO PREPAREDNESS
Regional engagement bringing together disaster-risk, climate and Earth-observation institutions around preparedness, anticipatory action and early response.

24–25 SEPTEMBER | ABIDJAN — WEST AFRICAN REGIONAL WATER FORUM
ECOWAS, UEMOA and CILSS convene regional stakeholders around water governance, cooperation and transboundary challenges.

25 SEPTEMBER | MAURITIUS — RESISLANDS NATIONAL LAUNCH
Mauritius launches its component of the African island states resilience programme.

13 OCTOBER | INTERNATIONAL DAY FOR DISASTER RISK REDUCTION
The annual global observance provides an opportunity to examine progress, accountability and investment in disaster-risk reduction.

13–15 OCTOBER | MAPUTO — INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON DISASTER RISK REDUCTION AND RESILIENCE IN AFRICA
African institutions, practitioners and partners convene around the continent’s evolving resilience agenda.

DIMA OPPORTUNITIES | LIVE OPPORTUNITIES

INTERNATIONAL CONSULTANT — TERMINAL EVALUATION: CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION IN LOWLAND ECOSYSTEMS

UNDP | Ethiopia | Deadline: 25 September 2026

International consultancy to undertake the terminal evaluation of the Climate Change Adaptation in the Lowland Ecosystems of Ethiopia project. Duration: 35 working days over three months. Duty station: Addis Ababa with field travel.

Relevant to: climate adaptation, evaluation, resilience and environmental programming.

INTERNATIONAL LEAD EL NIÑO TECHNICAL AND COORDINATION CONSULTANT

UNDP | International Consultancy | Deadline: 29 September 2026

A substantial technical and coordination assignment supporting El Niño preparedness, humanitarian coordination, financing, recovery and resilience. The role includes support to contingency planning and coordination, funding requirements, donor engagement, recovery and transition planning, resilience-building and lessons learned.

Duration: approximately 180 working days through June 2027.

Relevant to: disaster preparedness, humanitarian coordination, anticipatory action, recovery and resilience practitioners.

TECHNICAL SUPERVISOR ENGINEER — BLUE PEACE

UNCDF | Sierra Leone | Deadline: 1 October 2026

Technical consultancy supporting implementation of Blue Peace investments with national and municipal partners.

Relevant to: urban water resilience, infrastructure, municipal systems and climate-resilient investment.

RENEWABLE ENERGY AND MINIGRID PROJECT ENGINEER

UNDP | São Tomé and Príncipe | Deadline: 2 October 2026

International consultancy supporting renewable-energy and minigrid programming in an African island-state context. Duration: approximately 180 working days over 12 months.

Relevant to: resilient infrastructure, renewable energy, island resilience and sustainable development.

OPPORTUNITIES NOTE

DIMA scans beyond positions carrying “disaster risk reduction” in the title.

Relevant opportunities may also sit under climate adaptation, anticipatory action, resilience, humanitarian affairs, emergency preparedness, recovery, risk financing, early warning, social protection, WASH, food security, geospatial risk analysis, infrastructure and institutional governance.

New verified opportunities are added each week. Previously published opportunities are not repeated unless there is a material change.

DIMA CONNECT | FROM AFRICA, FOR THE PEOPLE MANAGING RISK

DIMA Connect — Disaster Management Connect is a weekly African disaster-risk intelligence brief.

Every week, DIMA scans developments across:

North Africa • West Africa & the Sahel • Central Africa • East Africa & the Horn • Southern Africa • African Island States • African Union and continental mechanisms

We monitor hazards and disasters—but also the systems behind them:

governance • early warning • anticipatory action • preparedness • risk financing • recovery • climate resilience • institutional development • learning • professional opportunities

Not every region will appear every week. But every region is scanned.

DIMA does not report from Southern Africa about Africa.
DIMA scans Africa from Africa.

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Anchored by Gravitazz Institute for Disaster Reduction & Emergency Management

Have intelligence for DIMA? Send verified developments, research, events, learning resources and professional opportunities to: info@gravitazzcontinental.com

Tracking the risks. Questioning the systems. Connecting the people who manage them.