Security lights are a significant component of any security measure. As part of the election-security mapping project last year, we as Map Kibera became aware of how the presence of working security lights directly affects an area's security in one way or another. Thugs will sometimes go so far as to vandalize the lights to encourage their activities in the early morning hours. This also applies to how well-lit the roadways are. Compared to areas with well-lit streets, areas with darker roads are likely to have more accidents.

While this is a worldwide issue, it affects more African countries, especially in informal and rural settlements and steps need to be made to create comprehensive data which can be used to advocate for the installation of new security lights and maintenance of existing ones.

In my talk, I shall be sharing the pilot project we did on the mapping of security lights in Kibera and share the outcomes of the project including the various challenges faced when it comes to security lights (such as power connectivity) and the feedback from the community. From the pilot, we saw an opportunity for expanding the work, starting with the major towns in Nairobi.

Additionally, I would also like to discuss with the larger mapping community how we can take the initiative of mapping the security lights in other cities in Africa and possibly chart a way forward on how meeting this need will look like. Though the first step has been taken, I recognize that this initiative requires the input of my fellow mapping community and would also like to include a section where this input can be received and see how the OSM mapping community can work towards such a challenge.