Open mapping has emerged as a lifeline, and not a tool for data, in areas affected by conflict, displacement, and disaster in Africa. It keeps people on the map, connects them to lifesaving aid, and fosters improved coordination between humanitarian responders and local players. In this panel discussion, I share first-hand experience and learning from ongoing research and mapping activities using OpenStreetMap (OSM) and GIS technologies to support internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Northeastern Nigeria, a region that is home to one of the longest-running humanitarian crises on the continent.

Since 2009, the insurgency and related violence by Boko Haram have displaced over 2.5 million people in Nigeria's northeast. It is where most reside in camps or host communities that have limited access to basic healthcare, clean water, and infrastructure. There, open and collaborative mapping have played a critical role in bridging the information gap connecting humanitarian responders with populations whose needs are likely to be opaque in government data systems.
Drawing from my experience of creating the Community Positive Health (CPH) Index and previous work of promoting spatial data initiatives with the input of OpenStreetMap contributors, GRID3, and ArcGIS platforms, I present to present three crucial issues during this panel:

1. Mapping as Visibility: Making Displaced Communities Count
   In crisis environments, invisibility too often equals exposure. The majority of IDP camps and informal settlements are not represented in national data sets, so they are underrepresented for aid access. By participatory data collection and open street maps contribution, we've been able to trace the physical size of camps, health centers, road accessibility, and water points so that frontline responders can visualize gaps and intervene.

Our project combines field data gathering with Survey123 and ArcGIS Field Maps leveraging OSM basemaps to identify where services are and aren't. In Borno and Adamawa States, for instance, it helped local NGOs understand how far women in IDP camps have to travel to access maternal health care, which in turn influenced the placement of mobile clinics.

1. Local Mapping Networks as Connectors
   Open mapping is not about maps; it's about people. One of the most powerful lessons learned in the field is the role that local YouthMappers chapters, humanitarian volunteers, and displaced persons themselves have in initiating mapping projects. These mappers are intermediaries between communities and organizations translating needs into spatial data, and spatial data into action.

For example, Nigerian indigenous mapping communities assisted in mapping roads, trails, and facilities in areas where satellite data could not fully represent. Their contextual knowledge was essential in confirming OSM data and pinpointing informal health facilities not included in government records. In others, young displaced people were taught to collect spatial data, not only giving them a voice but also providing them with a skillset and returning them to society.

1. Ground and Coordination Challenges
   Even within the rich tool set and talent pool of the open mapping community, coordination challenges between the global actors and grassroots base become very real. Global organizations bring resources without context, while local mappers do not necessarily lack technical tool access or organized support.
   I will present descriptions of working in this nexus overcoming data interoperability challenges, access constraints, language barriers, and ethical issues. For instance, while collecting geospatial data about vulnerable populations like women or children, community consent, privacy, and data protection norms had to be diligently observed, especially in areas of conflict.

We also had the issue of preparedness of data. When there are floods or an outbreak, time is of essence. Mapping initiated during a crisis is already too late. This is where pre-crisis mapping gains importance—having ready OSM Basemaps of camps, roads, and facilities means responders aren't spending valuable hours on orienting themselves.

1. Long-term Resilience Through Open Data
   Perhaps the most important lesson from the frontlines is that open mapping builds resilience after disaster. The maps don't just guide emergency response they inform policy, planning, and investment far beyond the news cycle's duration. For example, the CPH Index project is being developed as a reusable platform for governments and NGOs to find underserved populations, track change over time, and model interventions (e.g., location of new health facilities or road upgrades).

Therefore, mapping is an empowering process. It creates a lingua franca across communities and institutions. It surfaces unarticulated suffering. And it generates accountability.

Planned Contributions to the Panel
Throughout this roundtable, I'll share the following:
Field experiences of IDP camp and health facility mapping in Northeast Nigeria
Case studies of OSM-based coordination among local mappers, humanitarians, and government partners
Practical lessons and solutions in data collection, ethics, and multi-stakeholder engagement
A demonstration of how mapping outputs (dashboards, maps, story maps) were leveraged to inform humanitarian response
Reflections on scaling and sustaining open mapping networks in low-resource settings

Closing Reflection
As co-founder of Agape Global Health and Education (AGHE), a nonprofit focused on mapping health vulnerabilities and improving access for underserved children and families, I have worked directly with local stakeholders to co-create spatial tools that guide humanitarian action and strengthen community resilience. In times of humanitarian crisis, mapping has been more than a technical feat it has been an enabler, a facilitator, and a tool for justice. When people map their own lives, and when agencies value and respond to the data, we begin to build collaborative systems able to act to crisis and plan for recovery.

I would like to use this panel discussion to promote a greater appreciation of the effort that goes into building those systems, and to be able to relate to others who are working to plot a more equitable future for Africa's poorest.