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Rwanda is a country prone to a wide range of natural hazards that every year put a strain on the most vulnerable communities and take a considerable toll both in terms of economic losses and human lives. In 2013 MIDIMAR (Ministry of Disaster Management and Refugees Affairs) in collaboration with UNDP launched the Risk Atlas Project (2013-2018), funded by the ACP-EU-WB (Africa Caribbean Pacific – European Union, World Bank) aimed at comprehensively assessing existing risks so as to enhance risk management capacity at a national level.

We recently learnt that the OpenQuake Engine was used for the earthquake hazard assessment of Rwanda and consider it a step in further strengthening the capability of communities and local experts to leverage advanced resources and apply them to meet their needs.

The project involved a team of national/regional consultants with coaching and technical backstopping by UNDP Disaster Risk Assessment specialists from the Headquarter and was led by MIDIMAR and other governmental institutions. Georges Mavonga, former Head of Department of Seismology at the Volcanic Observatory of Goma, was among the regional consultants. In 2012 Georges was trained by GEM scientists on the use of the OpenQuake-engine, which allowed him to train in turn his team and ease the entire assessment process.