The Notre Dame Initiative for Global Development (NDIGD) and the Notre Dame Global Adaptation Index (ND-GAIN) will work with faculty and staff from the Universidade Católica de Moçambique (UCM) to assess the impacts of early-warning systems for climate-related disasters in the country of Mozambique.
Mozambique is densely populated and located in low-lying coastal and river zones, making it extremely susceptible to natural disasters and climate change including cyclones, storms, and floods. The creation of Community-based Disaster Management Committees (CLGRCs) and decentralized early-warning systems are being created to cope with climate risks. Notre Dame will help to evaluate the success of programs established by aid from the German government.
Funded by the International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie), the research consortium composed of NDIGD, ND-GAIN, and UCM experts will design a study to evaluate the impacts of CLGRCs and early-warning systems to show what and how interventions lead to increased climate resilience, and explore the degree of relevance and effectiveness of interventions across multiple sectors of the human and natural environment. The main focal zones of the project are Maputo, and the Beira and Búzi districts.
University of Notre Dame Vice President of Research Dr. Robert Bernhard says, “NDIGD and ND-GAIN look forward to developing this new partnership with 3ie. This project extends Notre Dame’s faculty expertise to measure the impact of disaster risk management and climate change adaptation, implemented by Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) to enhance local resilience by building up early warning systems.”
Leading the research team from the University of Notre Dame is Dr. Jessica Hellmann, Research Director of ND-GAIN and Associate Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences. NDIGD and ND-GAIN researchers collaborating on the project include Dr. Juan Carlos Guzman and Dr. Lila Khatiwada, Monitoring and Evaluation Specialists with NDIGD, and Dr. Chen Chen, research fellow from ND-GAIN. UCM will provide support through lead researcher, Dr. Dennis Eucker, Research Coordinator and Senior Lecturer.
Hellmann says, “We are excited to be part of helping communities adapt to climate change, something that is desperately needed around the world as sea level rises and storms, drought and heat waves become more intense.” Scientists, including a recent report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, explain that large-scale adaptation to climate change will be necessary in the coming decades. “But we do not yet know how to evaluate the effectiveness of adaptation actions. Our project will be among the first to develop adaptation assessment so that efforts to make Mozambique more resilient can be replicated around the world.”
NDIGD provides expertise in monitoring and evaluation through teaching and research faculty of the University and a dedicated staff of experienced researchers and administrators, integrated across multiple disciplines. ND-GAIN’s mission is to enhance the world’s understanding of the importance of adaptation and facilitate public and private investments in vulnerable communities. ND-GAIN prepares the world’s leading Index showing which countries are best prepared to deal with global changes brought about by overcrowding, resource-constraints and climate disruption.
3ie’s vision is to improve lives through impact evaluation, by increasing development effectiveness in developing countries. 3ie’s strategy is to generate new evidence of what works, synthesize and disseminate this evidence, build a culture of evidence-based policy-making, and develop capacity to produce and use impact evaluations.
Contact: Joya Helmuth, NDIGD Outreach Associate, jhelmuth@nd.edu