PERIPERI U - Partners Enhancing Resilience for People Exposed to Risk

Periperi U is a partnership of African universities that spans across the continent and is committed to building local disaster risk-related capacity. It is a dynamic organization committed to promoting sustainable development and resilience in Southern Africa.  Established in 2006, with five original members, the partnership has grown to include eleven universities from Algiers to Antanarivo, with institutions in Algeria, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Mozambique, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania and Uganda.

With a focus on addressing challenges posed by climate change and environmental degradation, PeriPeri U collaborates with stakeholders from academia, government, and civil society. Through innovative research, education, and community engagement initiatives, PeriPeri U strives to enhance understanding of climate impacts and develop practical solutions for adaptation and mitigation. The organization operates research hubs and knowledge-sharing platforms across the region, fostering collaboration and knowledge exchange among diverse stakeholders. Additionally, PeriPeri U offers capacity-building programs and technical assistance to empower local communities and decision-makers to navigate climate-related challenges effectively. By advocating for evidence-based policies and fostering partnerships, PeriPeri U plays a vital role in building climate resilience and promoting sustainable development in Southern Africa. With its dedication to innovation and collaboration, PeriPeri U continues to be a driving force for positive change in the region's climate landscape.

The goal of Periperi U is to reduce disaster risks in among African countries through improved national and local disaster risk management, due to enhanced strategic human capacity to integrate risk reduction into critical developmental sectors and programmes. The partners of Periperi U believe this can accomplished through building and embedding sustainable ‘multi-tasking’ capabilities in disaster risk and vulnerability reduction capacity building in ten selected institutions of higher learning in Africa consistent with global disaster reduction priorities reflected in the Hyogo Framework of Action.

Disaster Reduction Goal

The partners of Periperi U believe Disaster Risk Reduction can be accomplished through building and embedding sustainable ‘multi-tasking’ capabilities in disaster risk and vulnerability reduction capacity building through institutions of higher learning in Africa consistent with global disaster reduction priorities reflected in the Hyogo Framework of Action. This collective effort among the PeriPeri U partner universities is practically reflected in:

• New applied undergraduate and postgraduate academic programmes across each of the partner universities related to reducing or managing the risk and vulnerabilities within Africa. These programmes develop active teaching and training, research and policy advocacy capacity in Africa on disaster risk and vulnerability reduction. Such programmes also seek to address the urgent need for local disaster risk reduction professionals in Africa which are in short supply.
• Regular, accessible and practical disaster risk related short courses in local languages that are offered by the partner universities to government and civil society practitioners in order to improve understanding of disaster risk as well as improve upon capacity to address such risks through disaster management activities and formulation of new local/national level policies.
• Opportunities for partnership members to learn from their colleagues experience through flexible exchange visits that inspire research collaboration and exchange of ideas, methodologies and data.
• Generating applied research outputs related to risks and vulnerabilities that increase local understanding and improve risk management. Through such research of local disaster risks, it has improved the knowledge base for advancing disaster risk management planning at both local, national and regional levels.