Disaster Risk Reduction Framework Research Articles

The promise of a “people-centred” approach to floods: Types of participation in the global literature of citizen science and community-based flood risk reduction in the context of the Sendai Framework

Floods are expected to become more intense and increasingly frequent over the coming years. Over the last few decades, scholars, policy makers and risk managers have been gradually acknowledging that community-based initiatives can represent a promising alternative for addressing the hazard of floods at the local scale. In the context of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030 (SFDRR), this article presents a systematic literature review of the recent global body of literature on the topic. This work analyses 40 articles published over the last five years to identify the types of engagement allowed in the projects and to discuss the emerging debates in the field since the establishment of the SFDRR. The literature review interrogates where these approaches are being developed and how community-based approaches have been supporting the achievement of the SFDRR targets. The review shows that a growing body of literature has been applying community-based disaster risk reduction (CBDRR) and citizen science methods in order to respond to the call for a more people-centred approach towards floods. This call, outlined by the SFDRR, is particularly relevant in the context of vulnerable communities such as the residents of informal settlements, which have historically been disproportionately affected by floods. The article then provides an original contribution to the field by documenting and reflecting on the firsthand findings of a long-term community-based program assessing flood risks conducted within the Revitalising Informal settlements and Their Environments (RISE) program. The article outlines the implementation, operation and initial findings of the project, which involved community-members in the documentation of flood-levels in informal settlements in Suva, Fiji and Makassar, Indonesia between 2018 and 2020. The findings from the case study suggest that approaches involving communities in flood monitoring can, beyond facilitating flood documentation, unlock additional risk reduction benefits such as enhancing social capital and facilitating risk communication. The conclusions highlight that, similar to RISE’s flood monitoring project, several other community-based initiatives have been developed all over the world. While these initiatives vary significantly in the degrees of community participation and their methods, most of the literature agrees that these emerging methods are considered particularly promising in terms of improving disaster knowledge and awareness when community members participate in disaster risk reduction. The review of this body of literature, however, indicates that more research is needed to examine how social capital as well as cultural and political aspects can be harnessed and strengthened to play important roles in the response to floods.

The missing half of the Sendai framework: Gender and women in the implementation of global disaster risk reduction policy

The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030 (SFDRR) is the guiding international policy structure for disaster risk reduction activities, shaping DRR strategies and practices across the world. Its targets, priorities, and supporting documents are critical in influencing the direction of programming and funding streams for national and local level DRR interventions, and its indicators play a vital role in setting benchmarks and monitoring progress. The Framework has made progress by drawing attention to the diverging ways in which women experience disasters, and highlighted their increased vulnerability in certain disaster situations. But how far does the Sendai Framework really go towards delivering a gender responsive strategy for disaster risk reduction? Five years into its implementation, this paper analyses the relevance of the SFDRR for women in the context of disasters. It argues that although the framework has made headway in promoting the inclusion of women and girls in disaster policy and programming, on the whole it represents a missed opportunity for addressing fundamental gender based issues in DRR. Recommendations are offered for mitigating several SFDRR shortcomings during its current process of implementation. These include outlining a more refined conceptualization of gender, improved inclusion of women and sexual minorities in its indicators and implementation documents, and greater alignment with parallel policy frameworks and other indicator systems.

Resilience Dividends and Resilience Windfalls: Narratives That Tie Disaster Resilience Co-Benefits to Long-Term Sustainability.

The need for increased disaster resilience planning, especially at the community level, as well as the need to address sustainability are clear; these dual objectives have been deemed national priorities in a number of recent US Executive Orders. Major global climate agreements, (i.e., the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, Paris Climate Agreement, and the Sustainable Development Goals) all emphasize the need to integrate disaster resilience and climate risks with continued sustainable development concerns. Current ways of assessing synergies and trade-offs across planning for disaster resilience and sustainability in investment projects that impact communities are limited. The driving research question in this paper is how researchers and practitioners may better express relative categories of co-benefits to meet this need. We draw upon the categorization of some co-benefits as contributing to the resilience dividend, which has helped communication across fields and created bridges from research to practical on-the-ground planning in recent years. Furthermore, we leverage the growing focus on the need to recognize the role of narratives in driving decisions about how and where to invest, which elucidates the inherent value of archetypes that resonate across stakeholders and disciplines to describe investments that may meet multiple objectives. We introduce the concept of a resilience windfall as an unexpected or sudden gain or advantage of resilience planning to be conceptualized alongside resilience dividends. We then assess the practicality of decerning resilience windfalls across various projects that have aspects of both resilience and sustainability. We recount five narrative vignettes that demonstrate disaster resilience interventions and associated resilience dividends and windfalls. This effort highlights the importance of considering resilience dividends and resilience windfalls during the planning, execution, and evaluation phases of disaster resilience projects. These typologies provide an important contribution to the integration agenda between disaster resilience, climate risks, and sustainable development. There are policy implications of framing incentives for interventions that address both disaster resilience and long-term sustainability objectives as well as encouraging robust tracking of both resilience dividends and windfalls.

Disaster risk governance for district-level landslide risk management in Bangladesh

The Government of Bangladesh has been successful in reducing death rates from tropical cyclones. However, in recent years, landslides have been a significant hazard, especially in the south-eastern part of Bangladesh. For example, the landslides of 2017 killed 110 people in Rangamati district. These deaths have raised an important question: whether district disaster risk governance at the local level is effective enough to mitigate the impact of landslide disasters? Based on literature review, nine good characteristics of disaster risk governance were selected (accountability, participation, collaboration, transparency, information sharing, shared decision making, communication, leadership and shared resources) to assess the effectiveness of district disaster risk governance for landslides underpinned by the disaster risk management cycle. These characteristics were assessed by interviewing 18 members of the Rangamati's District Disaster Management Committee. Policy documents were also reviewed to study the devolution of disaster risk governance urged by the Hyogo Framework and Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction. The findings suggest that the four principles (viz. accountability, participation, collaboration, and leadership) function satisfactorily during the response, evacuation, rescue and relief phases compared to the other five principles. The findings also suggest that the national Disaster Management Regulatory Framework and the Disaster Management Institutions are conducive to promote local disaster risk governance. However, there are challenges with regard to collaboration within and between state and non-state actors. As such, context specific recommendations are provided to improve collaboration and effectiveness with implications for other disaster-prone districts in Bangladesh.

Estimating direct economic impacts of severe flood events in Turkey (2015–2020)

Over the past decades, floods have caused significant financial losses in Turkey, amounting to US$ 800 million between 1960 and 2014. With the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030 (SFDRR), it is aimed to reduce the direct economic loss from disasters in relation to the global gross domestic product (GDP) by 2030. Accordingly, a methodology based on experiences from developing countries was proposed by the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) to estimate direct economic losses on the macro-scale. Since Turkey also signed the SFDRR, we aimed to adapt, validate and apply the loss estimation model proposed by the UNDRR in Turkey for the first time. To do so, the well-documented flood event in Mersin of 2016 was used to calibrate the damage ratios for the agricultural, commercial and residential sectors, as well as educational facilities. Case studies between 2015 and 2020 with documented losses were further used to validate the model. Finally, model applications provided initial loss estimates for floods occurred recently in Turkey. Despite the limited event documentation for each sector, the calibrated model yielded good results when compared to documented losses. Thus, by implementing the UNDRR method, this study provides an approach to estimate the direct economic losses in Turkey on the macro-scale, which can be used to fill gaps in event databases, support the coordination of financial aid after flood events and facilitate monitoring of the progress toward and achievement of Global Target C of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030.

Challenges and opportunities for Sendai framework disaster loss reporting in the United States

The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction provides quantitative indicators for nations to measure progress in the reduction of disaster losses. The collection and analysis of disaster loss data under the Sendai Framework improves our understanding of the effectiveness of national disaster risk reduction strategies and interventions. The Sendai Framework has enhanced cooperation among Federal agencies to collect and track disaster loss data in the U.S., yet challenges remain for reporting disaster losses. Based on our experiences collecting and reporting U.S. data to the Sendai Monitor, we identify opportunities to improve disaster loss reporting in the U.S.

New Realization of Disaster Risk Reduction Education in the Context of a Global Pandemic: Lessons from Japan

The global COVID-19 pandemic has challenged different development sectors, including education. In this article, two main analyses are provided: one on the biological hazards of the pandemic in the context of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015−2030, which analyzes the overall impacts on the education sector. Then we discuss the overall impact on education sectors, with specific focus on disaster risk reduction (DRR) education and education for sustainable development (ESD). Disaster risk reduction education and ESD are analyzed from the perspective of school-community-family linkages. Specific case analysis of COVID-19 response in the education sector is presented from Omuta City, Japan, which is considered as a champion city for ESD. Four phases of response in Omuta City are characterized with three specific foci: (1) mitigating covid impacts on educational program and participants; (2) preventing exacerbation of covid transmission within and outside schools; and (3) maintaining educational program integrity despite covid. Key lessons are summarized in the concluding section, which explore the importance of (1) educational governance (on critical decision making) during the pandemic as well as with cascading risks; (2) enhancement of school-community-family linkages as pandemic response commonalities between ESD and DRR education; (3) risk communication and citizen behavior; and (4) use of technology. We argue that integration of health and DRR education is important, that resilience needs to be redefined in terms of sustainable development goals (SDGs), and that education plays a vital role in achieving these ends.

Health Workforce Development in Health Emergency and Disaster Risk Management: The Need for Evidence-Based Recommendations.

The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030 placed human health at the centre of disaster risk reduction, calling for the global community to enhance local and national health emergency and disaster risk management (Health EDRM). The Health EDRM Framework, published in 2019, describes the functions required for comprehensive disaster risk management across prevention, preparedness, readiness, response, and recovery to improve the resilience and health security of communities, countries, and health systems. Evidence-based Health EDRM workforce development is vital. However, there are still significant gaps in the evidence identifying common competencies for training and education programmes, and the clarification of strategies for workforce retention, motivation, deployment, and coordination. Initiated in June 2020, this project includes literature reviews, case studies, and an expert consensus (modified Delphi) study. Literature reviews in English, Japanese, and Chinese aim to identify research gaps and explore core competencies for Health EDRM workforce training. Thirteen Health EDRM related case studies from six WHO regions will illustrate best practices (and pitfalls) and inform the consensus study. Consensus will be sought from global experts in emergency and disaster medicine, nursing, public health and related disciplines. Recommendations for developing effective health workforce strategies for low- and middle-income countries and high-income countries will then be disseminated.

Toward an Interoperable National Hazards Events Database for South Africa

South Africa’s National Disaster Policy and international reporting requirements including the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030 and the Sustainable Development Goals require reporting databases on disaster losses in order to facilitate evidence-based decisions and actions. Data fragmentation, gaps in data availability, spatial and temporal aggregations, poor data quality, and lack of metadata are South Africa’s most significant challenges to improved risk management planning, mitigation, and disaster loss reporting. Researchers need to discover and access scale- and task-appropriate data in order to integrate into their models or analyses. Although there is a growing number of international and national initiatives aimed at publishing disaster loss data, open access, integration and reuse remains difficult due to interoperability barriers to working with datasets. The current COVID-19 Pandemic has placed a number of these challenges at the forefront with the issues of access to trustworthy data coming under scrutiny. We consider the current sources of disaster data for South Africa and present our recommended solutions built into an online disaster reporting prototype system.

Editorial. Risk-based, Pro-poor Urban Design and Planning for Tomorrow's Cities

Abstract Tomorrow’s Cities is the £20m United Kingdom Research and Innovation (UKRI) Global Challenge Research Fund (GCRF) Urban Disaster Risk Hub. The Hub aims to support the delivery of the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals and priorities 1 to 3 of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) 2015-2030. We work in four cities: Istanbul, Kathmandu, Nairobi, and Quito. We collaborate with local, national, and global organisations to strengthen disaster risk governance by undertaking integrated, multi-scale, and multi-disciplinary research to better understand natural multi-hazard risks and their drivers. Ongoing rapid urbanisation and urban expansion provide a time-limited opportunity to reduce disaster risk for the marginalised and most vulnerable in tomorrow’s cities. We aim to catalyse and support a transition from crisis management to pro-poor, multihazard risk-informed urban planning and people-centred decision-making in expanding cities worldwide. Tomorrow’s Cities is a fully-functioning, fully-funded international collaboration of communities, governance organisations, researchers, and risk professionals. We are developing our Phase 2 programme planned for 2021-24, which will build on the Phase 1 research and partnerships forged since our inception in early 2019. We seek global partners to co-produce and implement a new approach to risk reduction, through risksensitive design of tomorrow’s cities.

Guidance for Health Risk Assessment at Recurrent Mass Gatherings: The Jeddah Tool Framework

A wide range of natural and man-made hazards increases the health risks at mass gatherings (MGs). Building on the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030, the World Health Organization (WHO) developed the Health Emergency and Disaster Risk Management (H-EDRM) framework to strengthen preparedness, response, and recovery from health emergencies in the communities and emergency-prone settings, such as MGs. The Jeddah tool is derived from the H-EDRM framework as an all-hazard MG risk assessment tool, which provides a benchmark for monitoring progress made in capacity strengthening over a given period for recurrent MGs. Additionally, it introduces a reputational risk assessment domain to complement vulnerability and capacity assessment matrixes. This paper describes the key elements of the Jeddah tool to improve the understanding of health risk assessment at MGs in the overarching contexts of health emergencies and disaster risk reduction, in line with international goals.

Silent no more: Identifying and breaking through the barriers that d/Deaf people face in responding to hazards and disasters

The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (2015–2030) mandates stronger inclusion of persons with disability in DRR. Yet pathways to achieving new targets for disability-inclusive disaster risk reduction (DiDRR) and their feasibility remain unclear and are under-researched. To redress this gap, we undertake a three-step longitudinal assessment that: (i) examines the challenges the d/Deaf community, a cultural and linguistic minority with an invisible disability, in New South Wales, Australia face in accessing the support they need to effectively respond to risk; (ii) presents a range of community-driven resilience-building solutions that derived from the research; and most critically (iii) follows the implementation and outcomes of key resilience building solutions over a 6-year period and the impact these ‘system feedbacks’ may have on future initiatives. Our findings show that the d/Deaf community's vulnerability and resilience levels are influenced by insufficient levels of human capital in the d/Deaf community and emergency services, limited and uneven access to social capital (most notably information in accessible forms) and unsupportive governance structures that inhibit access to resources and inclusion in DRR processes that erodes trust. But the greatest inhibitors to building resilience over time are: (i) the absence of funds and clear directives to support long term sustainable change; and (ii) failures in understanding, engaging with and overcoming deeply embedded cultural divides that exist within the d/Deaf community and between the d/Deaf and hearing worlds.

Linking the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development to Research, Newspapers, and Governance: The Case of the Last Free-Flowing Alpine River

Are academic, newspaper and regulatory documents aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (SENDAI)? To answer this question, we develop a framework to compare the most commonly occurring keywords across these document types, as well as their use of Sustainable Development Goals and SENDAI keywords. The approach is tested in a case study on the Tagliamento River in the Italian Alps to explore the degree of communication among academia, newspapers and governance. Across the analyzed documents, we found disconnection between academic sources and regulatory documents. Occurrences of SDG-related keywords are positively correlated in regulatory documents and newspapers (r = 0.6), and in academic literature and newspapers (r = 0.38), indicating some degree of agreement. However, no correlation emerges between academic and regulatory documents, indicating a critical gap for communication and understanding between academic research and governance.

Ten Years into Recovery after the Great East Japan Earthquake: Evaluation by Post-2015 Frameworks

Devastated by the Great East Japan Earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear meltdown on March 11, 2011, Japan’s Tohoku coast has been in the process of disaster recovery for almost a decade. Several international frameworks for disaster risk reduction and sustainable development have also been established during this time. Sharing a holistic approach to comprehensive development principles linking risk reduction, disaster recovery, and development, these three international frameworks are the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2020, 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development 2015-2030, and the New Urban Agenda. Although each has its own distinct focus, approach, and connection to disaster recovery, the three frameworks share explicit connections and relationships. This paper considers how the first decade of recovery after the GEJE can be evaluated based on the goals and targets from the frameworks in support of people-centered development. After outlining each framework, and exploring the mutual connections between them, aspects relevant to recovery from each are applied to consider issues and progress of housing recovery after the GEJE. Synthesizing multiple aims and goals from the three frameworks relevant to housing recovery creates a more comprehensive tool for evaluation that can identify which goals have been partially or completely achieved. Yet even with the convergence of their respective goals, achieving the overall shared aim of holistic, equitable, and people-centered recovery for all still requires more coordination and consideration of practical applications beyond frameworks. Keywords: housing recovery; Great East Japan Earthquake; Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction; SDGs; New Urban Agenda

Resilience of Bruneian economy amidst Covid-19 based on the United Nations Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) framework

The outbreak of Covid-19 is the second most devastating event over a century. The pandemic, alongside deep health crises, has ushered the largest economic shocks, which require governments’ attention to ameliorate to avoid an economic downturn. The aim of this study is to measure the economic impacts of Covid-19 in Brunei by estimating the exposure, vulnerability, and resilience of the economy. This study deployed the United Nations Disaster Risk Reduction framework to examine the economic impact empirically. The data related to variables of gross domestic product, oil prices, international merchandise trade, tourism, unemployment, consumer price index, money supply, and national accounts were collected from September 2019 to July 2020 and analyzed through the fixed effects panel regression technique. The findings show that the news of the Covid-19 outbreak has exposed the weaknesses in energy sectors by having a significant negative impact. Additionally, analysis discloses that the energy and tourism sectors are vulnerable to the shocks of Covid-19. During the peak of the pandemic outbreak, unemployment in Brunei has also escalated. Additionally, the energy and tourism sectors are less resilient to pandemic shocks. The findings indicated that the consumer price index has significantly escalated during the economic recovery process. The findings elucidate that the overall GDP growth rate, international merchandise trade, and the financial sector continue exhibiting better performance amid Covid-19. The findings of this study contribute to developing policy implications for the emerging economies concerned with the economic recovery process during the pandemic.

COVID-19 Response in Thailand and Its Implications on Future Preparedness.

Thailand has been affected by COVID-19, like other countries in the Asian region at an early stage, and the first case was reported as early as mid-January 2020. Thailand’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic has been guided by the “Integrated Plan for Multilateral Cooperation for Safety and Mitigation of COVID-19”. This paper analyses the health resources in the country and focuses on the response through community-level public health system and legislative measures. The paper draws some lessons on future preparedness, especially with respect to the four priorities of Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction. At the end, the paper puts some key learning for future preparedness. While Thailand’s response to COVID-19 has been effective in limiting the spread of the disease, it falls short at being able to address the multiple dimensions of the crisis such as the economic and social impacts. The socioeconomic sectors have been hardest hit, with significant impact on tourism sectors. Sociopolitical system also plays an important role in governance and decision-making for pandemic responses. The analysis suggests that one opportunity for enhancing resilience in Thailand is to strive for more multilevel governance that engages with various stakeholders and to support grassroots and community-level networks. The COVID-19 pandemic recovery is a chance to recover better while leaving no one behind. An inclusive long-term recovery plan for the various impacted countries needs to take a holistic approach to address existing gaps and work towards a sustainable society. Furthering the Health Emergency Disaster Risk Management (HEDRM) Framework may support a coordinated response across various linked sectors rather than straining one particular sector.

COVID-19 pandemic and prospects for recovery of the global aviation industry

The COVID-19 pandemic ushered a wave of economic decline across the world due to disruptions in the supply and demand chain for the travel market. This study examines potential recovery pathways from the global aviation industry following the severe negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Using archival and secondary data mainly from Flightradar24, ICAO, IATA and EUROCONTROL, the study found that the pandemic inflicted a heavy toll on global aviation, which resulted in ratings downgrades, liquidation and bankruptcy of several airlines and airports due to severe cash burn instigated by travel restrictions. Although the industry is opening up, the recovery process seems much slower than anticipated, which could see more jobs and airlines failing in the absence of relevant support. The study recommends that as the sector opens up, it does so in a responsible manner, which puts measures that protect travellers, reduce costs, increase efficiency, and ensure a quality customer experience anchored on employees' health and customer safety. Recovery should also occur with the view to build back better in line with the provisions of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction and at the same time responding to the dictates of Agenda 2030 on sustainable development goals (SDGs).

Bridging Gaps in Minimum Humanitarian Standards and Shelter Planning by Critical Infrastructures

Current agendas such as the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction or the Sustainable Development Goals are demanding more integration of disaster risk management into other thematic fields and relevant sectors. However, certain thematic fields such as shelter planning and critical infrastructure have not been integrated yet. This article provides an analysis of minimum humanitarian standards contained in the well-known Sphere handbook. Gaps are identified for several critical infrastructure services. Moreover, guidance on how to derive infrastructure or lifeline needs has been found missing. This article analyses the missing service supply and infrastructure identification items and procedures. The main innovation is a more integrative perspective on infrastructure that can improve existing minimum humanitarian standards. It can guide the provision of infrastructure services to various types for different hazard scenarios, hence make humanitarian aid and shelter planning more sustainable in terms of avoiding infrastructure or lifeline shortages.

Development of Disaster Risk Management and Mitigation Extension Program for School-Aged Children in the Province of Bukidnon

Existing and emerging disaster-risks for school-aged children served as the primary consideration for the conceptualization of this study. Using the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030, this study analyzed the needs of the clientele, designed, and developed a DRRM extension program for school-aged children, and implemented and evaluated the program. The study involved school administrators, teachers, parents and their school-aged children in five landslide and earthquake-prone barangays in Bukidnon. Data were gathered through questionnaires, interviews, and FGDs. The needs were the basis for the design and development of the DRRM extension program for school- aged children. The training program included lessons on introduction to DRRM; DRRM in school, child-centered DRRM and CEPC, conduct of drill, and, managing emergencies and disasters.

Planetary disasters: moving the UN disaster risk reduction framework into cosmopolitised reality

ABSTRACT I aim to advance the governance of disasters by making it correspond with cosmopolitised reality. Following Ulrich Beck, this correspondence is essential for handling disasters in a constructive way because cosmopolitised reality does not simply challenge existing institutional settings; it reflexively undermines them. I achieve my aim by intervening into a distinct part of the disaster governance discourse, the UN Disaster Risk Reduction Framework discourse. Grounded in a systematic analysis of this discourse, I identify the concept ‘systemic risk’ as a discursive hook to introduce a new concept, ‘planetary disaster’. ‘Planetary disaster’ inscribes the distinctly integrated nature of cosmopolitised reality into the idea of ‘disaster’. With that, it opens new horizons in imagining disaster governance and its institutions.