Humanitarian Collaborative Practitioner Fellow Mark Slezak and students Kendall Hyer (BA), Hiba Khan (BA), and Pacific Rwanika (MPP) have been exploring ways to support disaster preparedness and response across Southern Africa. The team has been working on the INFORM initiative in Madagascar to improve the drought early warning system that farmers and herders depend on. Furthermore, the team has presented a new humanitarian risk model for the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to ensure that all Member States incorporate it into disaster preparedness and response efforts. 

In May, the team participated in a workshop in Johannesburg, South Africa, and drafted a Consultation Report, which was shared with and reviewed by stakeholders from the SADC Secretariat, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and the German Corporation for International Cooperation (GIZ). Now, they are rolling out the INFORM risk model and aim to ensure that SADC Member States understand and use the model in their work to prepare for, respond to, and thrive in the face of hazards and shocks. In addition, the team has evaluated a proposal for INFORM Niger, which would add more categorization and vulnerability indicators to the present index for the risk management model.