Participation as a requirement: Towards more inclusion or further exclusion? The community disaster and climate change committees in Vanuatu as a case study

Abstract

Inclusive participation has become a requirement in policy and practice for genuine community-based disaster risk reduction. Inclusive participation purposefully aims at including diverse forms of knowledge and redressing power relationships amongst society members, including groups identified as vulnerable or marginalised. This study examines the operationalisation of inclusive participation in disaster risk reduction and questions to what extent the imperative of inclusive participation leads to the goals it claims achieving. It focuses on the community disaster and climate change committees developed in Vanuatu with inclusive participation as one of the guiding principles. The research draws upon focus group discussions done in two islands and interviews with practitioners working with the committees. The findings reveal mixed outcomes linked to the mandating of disaster committee roles and the prescribed representation of certain groups, including further exclusion and disempowerment. The paper concludes that the operationalisation of inclusion needs contextualization, so it does not lead to outcomes in opposition with its original attempts.