Focus on Mozambique: A decade of experimenting disaster risk reduction strategies

The aim of this publication is to present UN-Habitat's activities in Mozambique for reducing the vulnerability of local population living in disaster-prone areas which have been implemented since 2002. Particular attention is given to innovative architectural solutions adopted as preventive measures for floods, cyclones and droughts.

The work shows how the aforementioned solutions are the result of a process that starts from the roots of local practices, in terms of materials and building techniques, to improve and make them resistant to environmental conditions where communities live. The concept of living with these different kinds of natural hazards in areas prone to small and moderate events is based on the identification of sustainable architectural alternatives to massive resettlement operations of the population.