Comoros

The Union of Comoros comprises the islands of Grande Comore (or Ngazidja) Moheli (or Moila) and Anjouan (or Ndzouani). The total area of the Union is 2.170 km2 and the largest island of Ngazidja, covers approximately 1,000 km2. The population of Comoros is approximately 850,000 with over 50% of the population living on Ngazidja. Between 40,000-50.000 inhabitants live in Moroni, the capital. The Human Development Index (see Figure 10) in 2007/2008 is 0.576, which ranks Comoros 139th out of 182 countries in the list. GDP per capita is US$1143 and 65% of the population lives below the US$2 poverty line. The Human Development Index (HDI), which refers to data collected in 2007, highlights the very large gaps in well-being and life chances that continue to divide our increasingly interconnected world.

One of the world's most active volcanoes, Mount Karthala, located in the centre of the 60 km long main island of Ngazidja, forms most of the island’s landmass, accounting for two thirds of the total area of the island. The total height of the volcano is about 6,000 meters, with 4,000 meters submerged under the sea and 2.360 meters above sea level. The volcano has a caldera of three kilometers located in the central part, south of the island. The crater (see Figure 11) in which surrounds the caldera and whose depth is about 1,000 meters, is filled with water from a recent eruption. The rift zones extend to the North Northeast West and South East from the summit. In the last 200 years, there has been an eruption of Mount Karthala on average, every 11 years and 2005 the volcano erupted twice affecting 40,000 people in April and 175,000 in November. After the last eruption, volcanic dust and debris covered the capital, Moroni, and wide areas of Grande Comore/Ngazidja Island. Toxic volcanic ash and smoke caused extensive air pollution and contaminated water supplies, threatening the health, livestock and agricultural livelihood of approximately 245,000 people living in 76 villages Most of the materials expelled were of the magma type, resulting in lava flows on both sides of the island. During the last century, lava flows reached populated coastal regions, including Moroni, the capital. In some cases, the eruptions occurred on the lower flanks of the volcano. In most cases, lava flows have devastated regions, affecting people in specific villages. The major risk posed by this volcano is therefore not only of a magma (lava) nature but an additional risk are the phreatic materials which may produce clouds of hot rocks and deadly gases moving at high speed.

The disaster sectors prioritized for Comoros by the participants of the DIPECHO were: local capacity building; institutional strengthening at community level; early warning systems; education and awareness; small-scale infrastructure works and; stock-piling of emergency and relief items.