In many African nations, communities consistently rely on facilities such as schools as the primary form of emergency shelter during natural disasters like cyclones and floods. This is a common practice, especially in rural or less populated areas, where schools are often the only big buildings that people can use together.

For countries like Mozambique, which face escalating climate threats and repeated extreme weather events, having detailed, verified information about shelter capacity is essential for effective disaster planning. To address this, UNICEF Mozambique is partnering with the Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team (HOT) to strengthen local capacity and generate open granular geospatial data for disaster risk reduction and anticipatory action. The effort includes Instituto Nacional de Gestão e Redução do Risco de Desastres (INGD/CENOE), Mozambique's government institution responsible for coordinating disaster response.

How the project works***

The project's goal will be achieved through the following coordinated activities:

• Youth mapping and training of trainers: The project will teach more than 30 youth leaders how to use OpenStreetMap (OSM) and other open mapping tools for Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR). These leaders will then teach over 200 young people how to map, both in person and online.
• Co-design interviews: INGD/CENOE, youth groups, the Youth Climate Action Coalition (YCAC), and other CSOs will all work together to come up with ways to collect data and scorecards.
• Accommodation mapping: Trained young people will look at more than 20 schools and other community buildings to see if they would make good emergency shelters. The assessments will record the number of people who can use the facilities, the quality of the water and sanitation, how easy it is to get to, and how safe the areas are for kids.
• Over 10 small grants will be given to youth groups that are leading pilots to restore mangroves and cut down on waste. These nature-based solutions lower the risk of flooding and help people adapt to climate change. Experts in nature-based solutions will help these groups choose species, space them out, and set up monitoring systems using drone images.
• Simulation drill: A 24-hour tabletop simulation will be conducted to validate the rapid data relay mechanism with INGD/CENOE focal points.

Sustainability of the project

The project strategy for achieving long-term sustainability is a unified approach centered on youth, reinforcing skills, system integration, and enterprise to ensure youth leadership continues beyond the project timeline. This is accomplished through three reinforcing pillars:

• Capacity and ownership by building a permanent, self-sufficient workforce of local mappers. Giving them geospatial skills helps them keep collecting and updating data and encourages the community to take ownership of DRR programs.
• Institutional integration by bringing together important people and young people to make sure that data is officially accepted, checked, and used by the government in real time for planning and responding to emergencies.
• Youth-led climate action and adaptation by using micro-grants and drone images to collect, map, and keep track of data on restoring mangroves and reducing waste.

Want to be part of supporting Mozambique or scaling the project?

If you are a remote volunteer mapper or validator, join the [HOT tasking manager]https://www.hotosm.org/en/tools-resources/tech-product-suite/tasking-manager/) to help with baseline mapping. For partners interested in discussing how to scale this project or explore partnership opportunities, contact us at esahub-info@hotosm.org.