Health and Education in Kawempe Informal Settlements
Updating Resilience Mappers' web map repository and community maps with core service points of Kawempe informal settlements.
Introduction
At the 2016 World Humanitarian Summit, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon called for humanitarian action to be “as local as possible, as international as necessary”. Community resilience and local capacity to respond to humanitarian shocks and crises should be fully valued and enhanced wherever possible. It is a principle that has since been inscribed into the Grand Bargain, a unique agreement between some of the largest donors and humanitarian organizations who have committed to get more means into the hands of local communities with the aim of improving the effectiveness and efficiency of humanitarian action and disaster risk reduction (DRR).
Geographic data collection, analysis and mapping are fundamental to DRR though improved hazard and vulnerability analysis, response planning, situational awareness, operational coordination, and prioritization of assistance and recovery efforts. It is also a discipline that inherently supports location-specific thinking and can empower local communities by applying their knowledge about their environment towards risk-informed decision-making (Olivier Cottray, Esri).
Resilience Mappers, a local GIS and mapping community in Uganda, took up the challenge to address the lack of complete spatial data in the informal settlements of Kampala. As a result, between October and December 2020, we collected data from 15 of 50 informal settlements targeted for relief assistance by the government of Uganda earlier in the year.
We mapped out all the buildings and roads in these settlements and shared the data with stakeholders including Actogether and the urban authorities such as Kampala Capital City Authority . The data generated will be used to identify potential treatment sites and evacuation sites and also approximate the population of the people affected in case of an outbreak of COVID19.
In addition to the building and road data mapped, data users also required updated information on service points, specifically health facilities, education facilities and solid waste dumping points (both legal and illegal). Providing spatial data about these facilities is crucial in building sustainability and resilience in preventing pandemics within the settlements.
Training Volunteers
Over 25 community mappers were trained in field mapping skills and methods. These community mappers were from over six YouthMappers chapters, OpenStreetMap communities, and local community working groups for girls and women across Uganda.
A local community working group for girls and women from Somero Uganda were among those who participated in the training and learned how to map community services.
Team Organization
The teaming approach was used for extensive ground mapping through all the settlements. The teams used navigation tools like OsmAnd for tracking coverage to ensure the whole settlement was entirely mapped.
Field Activity
Resilience Mappers volunteers carrying out data collection in the settlements.
A total of 11 informal settlements in Kawempe namely; Katanga, Nsooba, Kawempe I, Kalerwe, Mulago II, Ssebagala-Kawempe II, Kifumbira, Kyebando-Kisalosalo, Kanyaya, Makerere III, and Mpererwe were mapped.
Building footprints
All the buildings within the settlements were remotely mapped using OSM editors i.e. JOSM (Java OpenStreetMap) editor and iD Editor.
Health centers
Locations of the health centers, name, type (pharmacy, clinic, HC II etc.), operator (government, private, church, etc.) contact information, emergency services available, bed capacity, availability of an incinerator, number of doctors, nurses, toilets and water accessibility.
A total of 162 health facilities within 11 settlements were mapped.
One of the health centers mapped from the settlements.
Education facilities
Details collected from a total of 96 educational facilities within the settlements include: location of the school, name, ISCED Level (primary, secondary, operator (government, private, church), contacts, capacity of the school, accessibility to water and toilet.
Waste dumpsites
Over 199 waste dumpsites were mapped. Information collected included whether the sites were legal or illegal, as well as the location of dumpsites.
Resilience Mapper taking GPS location of a waste dumpsite.
Facilities and services dashboard
Points of interest are represented in the adjacent interactive dashboard which allows the user to specify the information they need under the settlement or facility filter option.
Filter the display by clicking on the informal settlement and choosing a facility. To view the number of service points in each settlement, use the tab on the top left corner. The tab on the right displays the statistics in form of a graph.
Map Making
From the field data collected, we developed both static and dynamic maps. These maps were discussed and shared with our data users, Actogether and the local leaders of these settlements.
Community maps
Static maps for each of the 11 settlements were made and shared with both Actogether as well as the settlement leaders.
Data Usage
The maps will be used for:
- Identifying potential treatment, immunization and evacuation sites within the settlements in cases of pandemics.
- Advocating for such services in villages where they are not sufficient or where none exist.
- Making informed administrative decisions for the communities in these settlements.
- Identifying and cleaning up illegal waste dumpsites around the villages within the settlements.
