A quantitative study of future hotspots of vulnerability in West and Central Africa by 2020

The main objective of this project is to visualise the early future situation of the West and Central Africa region through a series of maps displaying information on vulnerability and risks. To this end, a quantitative measure for vulnerability has been defined and computed. To complement the information on vulnerability provided by this index, the maps also display population projections for 2020. By doing so, not only can the future state of subnational vulnerability be assessed, but also the total population that will be affected.

A specific interpretation of the otherwise complex concept of human vulnerability is provided here. It has been tailored to meet the particular needs of humanitarian organisations operating in this area.

The list of countries covered by the project includes: Mauritania, Mali, Senegal, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Cameroon, Niger, Chad, Central African Republic, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. To maximise its informativeness, the unit of analysis has been chosen as the subnational regions within each country.