From Alberto Francioli, Resilience Alliance for Disasters and Risk Reduction (RADAR), Stellenbosch University
Over the past 15 years the ‘Partners Enhancing Resilience of People Exposed to Risks’ (PERIPERI U1) partnership has been committed to advancing disaster risk-related scholarship in support of sustainable development and more specifically risk reduction against hazards and disasters. Periperi U’s partners share a strong conviction that African universities can advance disaster risk reduction efforts, both in Africa and more broadly, by producing graduates with new skill-sets appropriate for tackling local risks – and that in developing new curricula they can build capacity for local and national risk management practice across the continent.
Another core principle of the PERIPERI U partners is to generate and share local knowledge on hazards, vulnerabilities and risks, producing data and information that can be utilised by local communities to mitigate their own risks, as well as by national and regional agencies and governments to guide policy and strategic planning to reduce disaster risk, enhance resilience and promote sustainability.
Established in 2006 with five universities, the PERIPERI U has grown incrementally to include 12 higher education institutions across the five regional spheres of the continent, offering 21 disaster risk-related academic programmes along with 26 modules and courses nested in other disciplines. Partners from a range of disciplines offer courses, modules and courses that have an integrated transdisciplinary approach. Between 2016 and 2019 an estimated 3,842 (2,254 postgraduates and 1,588 undergraduate) students registered across the 12 partners of whom 40.6% were female. Graduates of the PERIPERI U courses are now employed in positions in government, civil society organisations, international agencies and NGOs contributing to building both local capacity and enhancing continental resilience-building.
