UNDP has partnered with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD), the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR), and the National Institute of Statistics and the Directorate of Civil Protection of Cameroon to host a learning event on climate change and disaster statistics.

Hosted in Yaoundé, Cameroon from 7 to 9 November 2023, the aim of the event has been to increase the technical capacity of climate change and disaster statistics in Cameroon and bring together different stakeholders to provide hands-on training.

Martina Granato, UNDRR’s Associate Expert, said: “This workshop highlighted the power of data and statistics in understanding, mitigating, and responding to the complex interplay of disasters and climate change”.

The event has been made possible thanks to funding from the European Union through the "Strengthening Disaster Risk Governance and Disaster Recovery Capacities" project, which is a component of the Intra-African Caribbean and Pacific States (ACP) Natural Disaster Risk Reduction Programme funded under the 11th European Development Fund (EDF).  

Participants attended a series of sessions facilitated by speakers from UNDP, UNEP, UNSD, and UNDRR which explored the frameworks related to climate and disaster statistics and policies, systems for data collection, Cameroon’s capacity to provide climate change statistics, and how governmental agencies could work in close coordination to collect and centralize data.

Learning was tailored towards national agencies responsible for the collection and dissemination of statistics and data on climate change and disasters. Participants attended from across the National Institute of Statistics, the Directorate of Civil Protection of Cameroon, the Ministry of Natural Resources, Agriculture, Environment, non-governmental organizations, and universities.  

Eric Loubaud, UNDP’s Regional Specialist for Disaster Risk Reduction and Recovery, facilitated sessions on both the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, and the next steps that can be taken to advance the use of data and statistics in climate and disaster risk reduction in Cameroon. Eric shares that: “Such joint activity on data and statistics led jointly by the National Statistic Office and the National Directorate for Civil Protection offer great potential for building resilience against disasters and the effects of climate change.

We are witnessing the growing advantages of harnessing data and statistics in the realms of climate action and disaster risk reduction. Learning events like this can support and empower coordination and collaboration across governments to seize these opportunities and shape resilient communities which are equipped to tackle the challenges of the future."

The Strengthening Disaster Risk Governance and Recovery Capacities project, funded by the European Union, is a collaborative effort between the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the European Union (EU), the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR), and the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS). This joint program is dedicated to enhancing disaster risk governance, strengthening recovery capacities, and building resilience in vulnerable communities. By scaling up community-based disaster risk reduction, enhancing capacity-building activities, and conducting post-disaster needs assessments, the project aims to pave the way for a safer and more resilient future for communities facing disasters.