Humanitarian OSM Team/Open Mapping Hub Eastern and Southern Africa

From OpenStreetMap Wiki
Jump to navigation Jump to search
  • Humanitarian OSM Team/Open Mapping Hub Eastern and Southern Africa
  • In other languages

About Us

The Open Mapping Hub - Eastern & Southern Africa (ESA-Hub) is a regional initiative of the Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team (HOT). The creation of these regional hubs, including the ESA-Hub, is a key part of HOT's strategy to decentralize its operations and better support local mapping communities.

The Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team itself has a history that dates back to the aftermath of the 2010 Haiti earthquake, when a group of OpenStreetMap (OSM) collaborators spontaneously came together to create the best available map resources for rescue and aid efforts. Following this success, HOT was officially incorporated as a U.S. nonprofit. Since then, HOT has grown into a global community and NGO dedicated to humanitarian action and community development through open mapping, responding to dozens of disasters and working on development projects worldwide. In 2020, following a grant from TED's Audacious Project, HOT launched a new phase of growth, which included the establishment of four regional hubs. These hubs were created with the goal of mapping an area home to one billion people in countries vulnerable to disasters or experiencing multidimensional poverty. The Open Mapping Hub - Eastern & Southern Africa was one of these hubs, created to provide financial and technical support to open mapping communities across its 23 countries, facilitating the exchange of ideas and expertise to increase map edits, improve data accuracy, and enhance community engagement in the region.

The Key Objectives Of the Hub

  • Increase the number of active mappers in the region to build a vibrant and engaged community of mappers who can contribute to improving the quality of OSM data in the region.
  • Improve data accuracy: increase the accuracy of OSM data in the region, particularly in areas where the data is incomplete or outdated.
  • Increase map edits in unmapped areas: expand the coverage of OSM data in the region, particularly in rural and remote areas that are currently underrepresented on the map.
  • Enhance community engagement: create a sense of ownership and responsibility for the quality of OSM data in the region among the local communities.
  • Increase awareness, trust, and use of OSM data: increase the awareness and use of OSM data in the region, particularly among government agencies, NGOs, and private companies.

Impact areas

Impact areas connect open mapping with real-world applications through spatial data use in the humanitarian and development sectors. Each impact area at HOT provides a framework for technical and subject matter expertise for partnerships, grantmaking, and community support.

  • Disaster Response: Responding to the impacts of rapid onset and prolonged natural disasters.
  • Climate Resilience & Sustainability: Preparedness, anticipatory action, risk reduction, service delivery and infrastructure in disadvantaged urban and rural areas, ecosystem management, and more
  • Public Health: Accessible healthcare infrastructure and informed public health programming and monitoring.
  • Displacement & Safe Migration: Coordinated service delivery for migrants and displaced people in transit, camp settings, and other informal contexts.
  • Gender Equality: Promoting equal access and participation in open mapping, with an improved understanding and accounting of gendered experiences & issues in all impact areas.

Active Projects

Here is a list of active projects as of 2025


Past Projects—Displacement & Safe Migration (With End Year)

Past Projects - Disasters & Climate Resilience (With End Year)

Past Projects - Public Health (With End Year)

Past Projects - Sustainable Cities & Communities (With End Year)

Eastern and Southern Africa Activations

Humanitarian OSM Team/Open Mapping Hub Eastern and Southern Africa/Activity timeline

Data Quality Approach

Documentation of key milestones and activities for the Open Mapping Hub - Eastern and Southern Africa (ESA HUB) In this page you will find all the activations we have lead and supported. timeline of Open Mapping Hub ESA activities

Contact the Open Mapping Hub - ESA

Via email at: esahub-info [at] hotosm [dot] org [[2]



Retrieved from "https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/w/index.php?title=Humanitarian_OSM_Team/Open_Mapping_Hub_Eastern_and_Southern_Africa&oldid=2917838"