“Simply adapting an existing technology to new uses, and the act of innovation, may look very similar at first glance. Risk Award applicants thought beyond simply using a flashy new technology in a new way or a new location, which is an adaptation, and showed the world what innovation might actually look like.”

Kenyan shortlistee the Multiface Research & Development Centre focuses on warning farmers about flood risk in Busia, in the southwest of the country. It aims to create a mobile application that integrates indigenous traditional knowledge and modern climate science and issue early warning messages to some 15,000 subsistence-farming families in flood-prone parts of Budalang’i district.

Indian candidate the Micro Insurance Academy Social Re Consultancy is planning to develop a micro-insurance application to help communities in the country recover faster from disasters linked to climate change. It aims to offer farmers the possibility to pay insurance premiums according to their real risks. The project targets poor farmers in flood-prone areas of North Bihar, who will be able to save money and recover faster after disasters.

The 2015 Risk Award honoured the All-India Institute of Local Self-Government for its project to encourage slum-dwelling women and children to take part in the disaster management process to better protect their communities. The project supported over 25,000 residents from more than 10 slums in the city of Pune and helped women to play a key role in protecting their communities against flooding and mudslides.

In addition to Ms. Wu, Mr. Loster and Mr. Robert Glasser, the UN’s Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction, the Risk Award jury is made up of other experts in disaster risk reduction from a range of backgrounds: Mr. Walter Ammann,  the Founder and President of Global Risk Forum Davos;  Dr. Susan Cutter, Distinguished Professor of Geography at the University of South Carolina; Ms. Anisya Thomas Fritz, co-founder of Fritz Institute; Ms. Maria Emily Lubega Mutagamba, Minister of Tourism of Uganda; and Professor Haresh Shah, a pioneer in the fields of risk analysis, earthquake engineering, and probabilistic methods for over 35 years.

Date:

24 May 2017

Sources:

United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR)

Themes:

Capacity Development, Community-based DRR, Health & Health Facilities, Information Management, Private Sector, Risk Identification & Assessment, Urban Risk & Planning, Disaster Risk Management

Hazards:

Earthquake

Countries:

India, Kenya, Nepal