Disaster Risk Management and Reduction in Niger: A Review of Tools, Structures, and Mechanisms

Abstract

Niger, a vast landlocked country in the arid Sahel region of West Africa, is constantly faced with disasters, with their attendant loss of human life, material goods, economic damage, and damage to critical infrastructure. However, in terms of disaster risk management and reduction, the country has policies and strategies that are consistent with regional and global disaster risk reduction frameworks and instruments. An analysis carried out based on secondary data collection on disaster risk management and reduction tools, structures, and mechanisms revealed the need to make better use of what already exists by improving overall coordination. This can be achieved by putting in place a strong structure that can drive the mobilization of resources and by placing a strong emphasis on the development of operational tools that focus on prevention rather than emergency response. To achieve this, it is important to review data collection methods by simplifying them using geographical information, which could lead to the collection of relevant and timely data to improve the alert mechanism so that it is as rapid as possible and allows the implementation of preventive actions rather than emergency responses. Improving the GRC framework will also require the implementation of coherent land use and urban development strategies with appropriate building standards, supported by adequate funding mechanisms to build resilient infrastructure. Keywords: Disaster risk management, Prevention, Emergency response, Recovery, Niger.