Governance for resilience: Canada and global disaster risk reduction

Abstract

ABSTRACT As approaches to international disaster risk reduction have changed, the international community's responses have evolved since the issue arose in 1990 with the United Nations International Decade for Disaster Risk Reduction (henceforth DRR). Canada has been a strong participant in these efforts, most recently through the Sendai Framework, designed to guide the world’s responses to disaster from 2015 to 2030. A key shift of the Sendai Framework is a move toward “disaster risk governance” rather than disaster management, suggesting a move away from relief-based governance and assistance models and toward resilience-based models. As DRR becomes more integrated into the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), it will theoretically blur the boundary between “relief” and “development” activities and policies. This paper will analyze the implications of this blurring for Canada’s international disaster assistance policies, and include some comparison with domestic disaster response policies. In the process, the work will review the history, development, and outcomes of Canada’s involvement in the global DRR process, with particular focus on Canada’s contribution to resilience-based governance. It will evaluate Canada’s progress toward the support of resilience-based governance as demonstrated through recent examples of disaster assistance responses, policies and programs.