Safe Haven constructed in Madagascar as part of the Building Urban Climate Resilience in South-Eastern Africa project, funded by the Adaptation Fund, and coordinated by UN-Habitat and Oxfam.
UN-Habitat, January 31, 2023
Shelter and drainage system withstand Madagascar storm
Severe Tropical Storm Cheneso made landfall in Madagascar on 19 January 2023 bringing with it a week of heavy rains and wind and causing significant flooding across the country. Cheneso is putting to test the multipurpose safe haven and drainage system recently completed by UN-Habitat and its partner Oxfam in the vulnerable coastal city of Morondava. Inaugurated just over a month ago, the 200-person capacity safe haven is now fully occupied for the first time, lending refuge to vulnerable households, 80% of whom are women and children.
This is the first safe haven of its kind constructed in Madagascar, where schools are often used for emergency shelter during cyclone season, disrupting schooling for children sometimes for weeks at a time. The center is equipped with solar energy, pumped water, a sheltered outdoor kitchen, laundry basin and is fully accessible to persons with disabilities. UN-Habitat is working with the UN system, Oxfam and the national government, particularly the national disaster risk management center (BNGRC) in promoting and replicating this model of safe haven across Madagascar, which is vulnerable to storms and cyclones.