Disasters最新文献

Drought-related emergency assistance in the drylands is shaped by understandings of vulnerability that are often not commensurate with the socioeconomic dynamics that structure everyday life in pastoralist contexts. Forms of humanitarian assessment and targeting undertaken before the implementation of assistance programmes tend to be oriented towards vulnerability measurements and assessment criteria that focus on individuals or households. These approaches often fail to account for existing local systems of sharing, redistribution, and resource pooling. Recent research into locally-led social protection, resilience, and livelihood change in the pastoral drylands highlights how pastoralists respond to crises through collective and networked practices, which take on diverse forms but are founded on a common understanding of vulnerability. Differences in how vulnerability is both understood and responded to mean that aid organisations and local communities often do not see eye to eye, which results in mistrust and inefficiencies. This article draws on research undertaken among pastoralist communities in the cross-border area of northern Kenya and southern Ethiopia to explore local conceptions of vulnerability. In drawing out implications, it asks whether humanitarian agencies might be able to move towards an alternative approach grounded in the more relational, networked understandings of vulnerability that shape life in the drylands.

Undergraduate education in emergency management is crucial for shaping future professionals in the field, but virtually no published comparative studies have explored the nuances of such programmes internationally. Comparative analysis offers valuable insights into cross-national disparities, the key elements of successful educational models, and how national emergency management practices shape educational approaches. This study partially fills this gap by introducing an analytical framework that scrutinises 39 Chinese and 42 American undergraduate emergency management programmes. It focuses on general characteristics, educational objectives, curricula, and faculty composition. Results reveal notable differences. United States programmes are generally within political or public affairs departments, but programmes in China are typically housed in specialised emergency management departments. Both countries' programmes emphasise interdisciplinary training, but those in the US align closely with the Federal Emergency Management Agency's goals, thus highlighting critical thinking and communication skills. Chinese programmes, however, prioritise decision-making and command capabilities. Curriculum structures in the two countries prioritise tools and skills courses tailored to meet the specific needs of their national emergency management departments and enhance professional competencies. Faculty composition also differs: US programmes employ more adjunct faculty and faculty with public administration or emergency management backgrounds, while Chinese programmes tend to rely on faculty with engineering expertise.

Throughout human history, communities have responded to challenges in urban and rural contexts by engaging multiple agents and actors, including individuals, institutions, and governments. Disciplinary expertise, including deep knowledge and practice, has contributed to economic, social, technological, and political change. Yet, it is increasingly apparent that the complex global, systems-level challenges facing twenty-first century communities require responses that transcend traditional disciplinary boundaries. The ability of communities to respond to challenges faced, from natural and anthropogenic hazards to the systemic threat of climate change, is often referred to as ‘community resilience’. Despite increasing scholarly interest, there appears to be, however, a lack of consistency in understanding and applying community resilience among cross-disciplinary practitioners. This ambiguity can limit the potential of collaborative action and impact at the community level. This study explores cross-disciplinary perspectives of community resilience to better understand how the term is described and applied in practice. Drawing on the experiences of more than 100 international respondents to an online survey, this study analyses the emerging themes to gauge the potential of transdisciplinary community resilience in realising the possible value of collective action.

This study explored disaster risk reduction (DRR) and resilience building in vulnerable communities in Jordan. It focused on four key areas: perceived environmental and human-made risks; the effectiveness of national DRR strategies at the local level; factors influencing community participation in DRR planning; and perceptions of infrastructure and preparedness. A mixed-methods design was used, combining 10 focus-group discussions and a structured survey of 512 respondents in Madaba and Jerash Governorates. The results revealed major gaps in infrastructure readiness, public awareness, and community involvement in DRR efforts. Although some participants acknowledged national DRR policies and early warning systems, local implementation was weak. Barriers to community engagement included poor communication, inconvenient meeting times, and institutional limitations. Nonetheless, the involvement of local associations and inclusive mechanisms showed potential for improving participation. The study underscores the importance of context-sensitive, locally-driven DRR strategies that strengthen infrastructure and empower communities. It recommends better alignment between national policies and local realities, enhanced communication, and greater community engagement. Limitations include the use of self-reported data and a cross-sectional design. Future research should adopt longitudinal approaches and examine the role of specific demographic groups in shaping DRR outcomes.

Locally-led mutual aid has been a critical lifeline for many people caught up in Sudan's current conflict. Yet, global humanitarian commitments to empower and support local actors are not being met. Furthermore, remote international organisations risk being insensitive to conflict dynamics and undermining local support systems. Drawing on qualitative research conducted between June 2023 and February 2024 on food and cash transfers in Sudan, this paper finds that diverse grassroots organisations have proved their worth in appalling circumstances, while international support for them remains at a small scale. It argues that localisation and conflict sensitivity agendas can be mutually supportive. Long-term partnership with, and core funding for, carefully selected local actors can deepen contextual understanding and empower those best placed to manage conflict over the longer term. This requires that donors review their approach to risk management and consider the potential harms of continuing to centralise control over interventions, as well as the opportunities lost in doing so.

This article synthesises the current situation vis-à-vis the aid modality of anticipatory action in pastoralist settings. Broadly comprising pre-planned, pre-financed interventions triggered by early warning systems and aimed at reducing the impacts of crises, anticipatory action has been effective at reducing the impact of shocks in multiple settings (particularly sudden-onset shocks such as floods and cyclones). Yet, it has seemingly failed to achieve as significant an impact in mobile, livestock herding areas, where recurrent drought—a slow-onset disaster—is a defining ecological feature. To understand this limited success, this article explores the distinct challenges posed by the socioeconomic and ecological dynamics of the drylands, where crises are never uniform or unilinear and are thus extremely difficult to make predictions amidst. Surveying diverse evidence and perspectives, it highlights some of the unique characteristics of pastoral livelihoods, which set them apart from other forms of subsistence in ways that are critical to the conceptualisation and implementation of assistance programmes. In doing so, it examines cross-cutting themes of central significance to the future of anticipatory action in the drylands, identifying key uncharted areas for future inquiry and new potentials that might be unlocked through novel approaches to programming and intervention.

Disasters in the Horn of Africa have become more frequent and protracted due to climate change and the compounding factors that restrict resource access, leading to severe food insecurity and livelihood losses. While governmental, international, and regional partners have made significant progress in adopting disaster management policies and frameworks, challenges remain. Limited empirical attempts have been made to understand how diverse actors with differing goals and competing interests interact with one another and influence disaster management and development outcomes. Drawing on qualitative data collected over two years, this paper explores the diverse practices within and across disaster management in the region, using Kenya as a case study, and focusing in particular on drought as a national disaster. It investigates how multiple actors, networks, and other hidden dynamics shape disaster response outcomes. It establishes that various institutional barriers, rigid structures and mindsets, along with shifting priorities and insufficient resources, often result in fragmented drought responses, disjointed coordination, and siloed operations across multiple layers. This study highlights the importance of paying attention to these dynamics and recognising them as key grounds for improvement. It advocates for more introspection and new approaches to collaboration rather than new policy frameworks.

The frequency and intensity of flood disaster events are increasing. It is well documented that community flood vulnerability and impacts vary depending on household attributes. Nevertheless, vulnerable households in high flood risk areas rarely invest time and effort to reduce their vulnerability. A mixed-methods case study investigated the key factors that shaped flood risk perceptions, awareness levels, and information accessibility among households with three levels of vulnerability. Flood concerns were found to increase with household vulnerability and having a vulnerable family member elevated flood disaster risk. Disaster awareness is affected by household attributes such as evacuation assistance for vulnerable family members, as well as by support from government/community groups. Personal networks, including families and neighbours, are primary flood information verification sources, with WhatsApp being the main social media platform utilised. The findings suggest that governments should tap into trusted community and social networks to disseminate flood risk communication to reduce disaster vulnerability.

In recent decades, development and humanitarian actors in the Horn of Africa have employed the concept of resilience to design and justify the establishment of diverse water supply systems. The principal aim of these interventions is to enhance pastoralists' resilience to droughts and other shocks. However, limited empirical research has examined the resilience outcomes of new and existing water supply systems in pastoral areas. This study addresses this gap by analysing primary data collected in Marsabit County in northern Kenya and the Somali region of eastern Ethiopia. Adopting a contextual approach to resilience, the findings challenge the oversimplified narrative that links water supply systems in pastoral drylands directly to resilience. The results reveal major trade-offs: while water infrastructure enhances short-term water access, it also disrupts mobility, generates sociopolitical conflict, engenders ill health, exacerbates inequality, and spawns range degradation. The analysis shows that water supply systems contribute to resilience only when well-governed and aligned with mobility, resource access, diversification, and social networks—conditions rarely met in many dryland contexts.

This study examines the declining use of indigenous knowledge (IK) in early warning systems for climate-related disasters in Malawi, drawing on qualitative data from four disaster-prone districts and national-level institutions. While IK is frequently referenced in policy discourse and programmatic frameworks, its practical integration into disaster risk reduction (DRR) efforts remains limited, underlining deeper epistemic tensions that structure disaster governance. The findings reveal that scientific systems are institutionally privileged owing to donor logics, technocratic norms, and standardised metrics, while IK is increasingly marginalised, both by formal structures and shifting community dynamics, including youth disengagement, intergenerational disconnects, and religious beliefs. Adopting a co-productionist lens, the study argues for a move beyond tokenistic inclusion and towards genuine knowledge pluralism, recognising the distinct value of IK in fostering resilience, particularly in resource-constrained and culturally diverse settings. The paper contributes to ongoing debates on epistemic justice, legitimacy, and the politics of knowledge in DRR and climate adaptation.