When disaster strikes, all living creatures naturally react with a fight-or-flight response. But what if you're not strong enough, or have nowhere to run? This is when suffering sets in. Hunger, death, degradation, loss, damage, destruction, desperation. Since 2001, we have the vision to reduce disaster risk - because we can!

At the University of the Free State (UFS) Disaster Management Training and Education Centre for Africa (DiMTEC), we strive towards informing the public about disaster risk reduction through education. Our master's, postgraduate degrees in disaster management, short courses, and research are of the highest quality. The recent addition of a PhD ensures that research towards making a difference continue in various fields.

DiMTEC's first course was approved and registered by the South African Qualifications Authority in 2001, after which we joined the Department of Agricultural Economics in the vision of becoming an independent centre, which came about in 2005.

The education and research at DiMTEC is multi disciplinary with a focus on disaster risk reduction in Africa. We have a footprint in more than 17 African Countries.