Disasters最新文献

In this article, we explore how logics and systems of coloniality are reproduced through the bureaucracy of international aid. Drawing on qualitative research with civil society and international aid workers in Myanmar, we examine tensions between international agencies' ‘do no harm’ and ‘localisation’ commitments and their compliance requirements. We demonstrate that international compliance frameworks are experienced as top-down and overly rigid by civil society actors leading aid programmes, and that they can have unintended negative consequences, causing harm to Myanmar aid workers and communities. These frameworks also reinforce logics and systems of coloniality, by valuing the technocratic knowledge and approaches of international agencies over the ‘ways of being’ of civil society actors, and by crystallising artificial and hierarchical distinctions between the ‘local’ and ‘international’. Compliance systems in turn highlight the inadequacies of current ‘localisation’ endeavours, which fail to recognise and redress deep-seated inequalities and injustices in the international humanitarian industry.

This paper proposes that ethical thinking provides a useful lens for understanding how different approaches to humanitarian thinking may be connected through the values that underpin them. In the era of polycrisis, humanitarianism is continually expanding to accommodate a proliferation of diverse actors. Importantly, concerns are often raised about how ‘humanitarian’ some of them are, which can influence cooperation and interaction. Ethical thinking is a valuable way of interpreting commonalities and differences between actors because actions, policies, and ideas are buttressed by values that frequently remain unspoken. Therefore, we examine 14 approaches to humanitarian thinking so we can highlight key ways of comprehending: what is good; the tension between means and ends; and for whom we are responsible. We propose a number of clusters of ethical thinking that capture how different groups answer these questions, and we discuss how they may help identify points of unity and division and appreciate the values that support choices and actions in humanitarian contexts.

This study investigates the effects of unconditional cash grants on informal manufacturing firms’ recovery after Cyclone Idai struck Mozambique in 2019. Using a novel stratified adaptive cluster sampling approach, we collected representative panel data from firms in Beira (heavily affected) and Chimoio (less affected). Many firms demonstrated rapid initial recovery without financial intervention, but did not sustain this over time. Although the overall effect of the grants on the full sample is not statistically significant, important heterogeneity in treatment effects did emerge. In Beira, the grants positively influenced firm recovery, whereas no significant effects were observed in Chimoio. Within Beira, the grants were particularly beneficial for firms that suffered greater damage, employed more workers, operated in the carpentry subsector, and invested the funds in machinery or tools. We explore potential explanations of the overall null result, including rapid self-recovery and the unique challenges faced by manufacturing firms, while highlighting the importance of targeting specific subgroups in future disaster recovery efforts.

Persons with disabilities (PWDs) are disproportionately affected by disasters. Disability-inclusive disaster risk reduction (DIDRR) focuses on decreasing the vulnerability of PWDs and enhancing their capacities in disaster, yet little is known about how disability is mainstreamed in disaster risk reduction (DRR) policies and practices. Applying Amartya Sen's capability approach, this study investigates if and how PWDs are included in DRR policymaking, implementation, and response activities in Assam, India. Based on policy document analysis and semi-structured interviews, it finds a divide in addressing disability inclusion at different policymaking levels. Furthermore, there is a gap between the existing DRR framework and how (inclusive) DRR is implemented on the ground. Flood management in Assam is not based on institutionalised (DI)DRR measures, but a bottom-up approach based on traditional knowledge. In Assam, PWDs lack resources and conversion factors, absences which are reinforced by missing or inadequate provisions on the part of governmental or non-governmental actors and a fractured DRR policymaking framework.

This study examines the impacts of earthquakes on individual subjective well-being, using data from New Zealand's General Social Survey and a difference-in-difference-in-difference approach. By matching this with Earthquake Commission insurance claims, we could analyse the micro-level effects of the 2010–11 Canterbury (New Zealand) earthquakes. Our findings reveal that life satisfaction consistently declined in affected areas, emphasising its sensitivity to catastrophic shocks. Narrowly-defined areas exhibited negative impacts across all well-being indicators. Vulnerable groups, including Māori, faced significant declines in life satisfaction, while younger people, migrants, and employed individuals demonstrated resilience. Economic well-being decreased notably for females and younger persons in Christchurch, whereas Māori and employed individuals showed increases. Perceptions of safety weakened, particularly among females and the employed, but strengthened among sole individuals with dependent children and migrants. These results highlight the hidden adverse impacts of earthquakes and underscore the necessity for targeted interventions and support mechanisms tailored to vulnerable populations to mitigate disasters' effects on well-being effectively.

Emergency management agencies in New Zealand are increasingly engaging with communities to promote civic participation and collective action for reducing disaster risks. Utilising a mixed-methods approach, this paper explores the communication practices that support these efforts. The qualitative findings reveal that emergency management agencies, different government organisations, community-based groups, and local people play a key role in the process. Communicative actions supporting people's participation include scoping and relationship-building activities, awareness-raising events, advertisements and promotions, and community conversations. Based on these findings and guided by communication infrastructure theory, a conceptual map of the communication networks, resources, and processes adopted to promote people's participation and collective action is presented here. The survey results indicate that emergency management agencies are the main communicators promoting people's participation. Interpersonal influence and community conversations are most effective in terms of involving new people. Both the theoretical and practical implications of the study's findings are discussed in this paper.

Contributing to debates about faith-based humanitarian action and development as well as domestic programming, this article examines the domestic COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) responses of two British Islamic faith-based organisations (FBOs). It discusses how Islamic Relief UK and the Ramadan Tent Project responded to the unprecedented crisis caused by the pandemic by adapting their United Kingdom-based programming. The article is based on qualitative research conducted by members of the two organisations, including interviews, written inquiries, and analysis of internal documents. It highlights the diversity of Muslim crisis response and how the organisations built on their previous domestic emergency response, including during flooding in the 2000s and 2010s and the 2017 Grenfell Tower fire. Theoretically, this article makes an important contribution to debates on the roles of FBOs in emergency relief in domestic (rather than international) spaces, challenging (neo)colonial, racialised notions of humanitarian work as something that only takes place in the Global South.

This article presents a simple regression model to inform decisions on the allocation amount from the United Nations' Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) in response to new or deteriorating humanitarian emergencies. The model offers a quick and user-friendly way to summarise historical (2016–24) CERF allocations and to estimate amounts for new allocations. It includes four elements: type of emergency; total funding required for a short-term humanitarian response; overall humanitarian needs and risks in the country; and the number of people who would receive humanitarian assistance or protection services with a CERF allocation. The model is integrated into CERF's decision-making process, which considers other factors as well. It provides a check by generating an analytical comparison with almost 380 past allocations. In an external review, the model has been found ‘fit for purpose’. The article concludes with a discussion of other potential uses of the model and how it could be developed.

Droughts are a primary driver of humanitarian crises in arid regions, yet early warning systems that index humanitarian financing often omit water security data in favour of food security monitoring. Based on 42 expert interviews assessing management barriers and information needs during the 2020–24 drought in the Horn of Africa, resulting in an estimated 71,100 excess deaths in Somalia alone, we find water security data to be critical in shifting management to proactive mechanisms. Monitoring of water availability (such as water quality and groundwater/surface water levels) and water access (such as water prices and household surveys) is needed to design solutions that proactively mitigate water shortages and their secondary impacts on food security (such as through borehole rehabilitation, alternative water supplies, and cash transfers). Furthermore, if causal relations between water and food insecurity are analysed, the cost–benefit basis for financing water supply interventions can be more completely propositioned, and food insecurity hotspots can be better anticipated.

Despite the growth of disaster scholarship, the topic of how and why climate-related disasters and extreme weather events vary among people with different types of disabilities remains unexplored. To help fill the gap, this study draws on a larger research project that was co-designed by Water Sensitive Cities Australia at Monash University and the Hanoi Association of People with Disabilities, Vietnam. It utilised the dataset of a rapid evidence review of 33 studies, key informant interviews with 26 local stakeholders, and 52 interviews with people with various disabilities in Hanoi and Nghe An province, Vietnam. Using thematic analysis, we identified eight themes pertaining to socially-constructed difficulties facing people with disabilities: barriers to accessing disaster risk information and warnings; difficulties in understanding emergencies; challenges in communicating needs; evacuation and mobility hurdles; decreased sense of belonging and isolation; increased risk of getting sick; increased risk of developing mental health and behavioural disorders; and disrupted livelihood and loss of income.