In April 2018, a “single flood event affected between 900,000 and 1.7 million people.

Flooding is one of the most common disasters in Tanzania that affect various regions across the country every rainy season. Apart from causing damage to infrastructure, people’s properties, the environment, and the economy, flood causes human impacts, particularly injuries and deaths. In the years 2018, 2019, and 2020 alone, a total of 273 deaths and 128 injuries related to floods were reported from across the country to the Disaster Management Department at the Prime Minister’s Office. In Dar es Salaam, 12 deaths were reported in October 2020 floods alone.

To reduce the risk of flood-related deaths and injuries, the World Bank through the Tanzania Urban Resilience Program supported the Dar es Salaam Regional Authority to prepare flood risk educational and communication materials for a public sensitization campaign. This activity is a continuation of the World Bank’s support to strengthen the emergency preparedness and response capacity of Dar es Salaam.

 The World Bank team worked with the Dar es Salaam Multi-Agency Emergency Response Team (DarMAERT) to conceptualize and develop the campaign called in Swahili ‘Usipime Nguvu ya Maji’ which translates to “Do not test the strength of water”. It focuses on educating the public regarding the risk of crossing moving water during a flood, which has been a major contributing factor to accidents, injuries, and even deaths.

The educational materials for the campaign include six posters and six animation videos targeting school children, vehicle drivers (for individual and public transport vehicles), employers and employees, motorcyclists, the disabled, and street vendors.  

The campaign was first launched by the Dar es Salaam Regional Commissioner in November 2020 for the October- December rainy season and was later re-launched in May 2021, during the March-May rainy season. The re-launch involved a press conference with executives and editors of various major media houses in Tanzania, where the Regional Commissioner talked about the risks of flooding still facing Dar Es Salaam as a city and asked for the support of the media in educating the community on risks of crossing moving water in order to reduce the number of deaths by publishing and airing the Usipime Nguvu Ya Maji campaign. He asked them to join in these efforts as part of their corporate responsibility, and mentioned that “it is good for us to give continuous education so that citizens can take precautions”.

The videos and posters from the campaign were successfully published and aired in about 15 media platforms including Mtanzania Digital (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u55Ktrock_E), EFM, Azam TV, Habari Leo, Uhuru FM, Star TV and Clouds. In addition, the videos and posters were shared through social media platforms including WhatsApp and Instagram by the members of the DarMAERT.

The aim is to keep the campaign continuous through every rainy season to ensure that the public is educated and reminded of the danger of floods to human life.