After Sendai: Is Africa Bouncing Back or Bouncing Forward from Disasters?

Bernard Manyena

doi:10.1007/s13753-016-0084-7

Article Contents

Article Navigation > International Journal of Disaster Risk Science > 2016 > 7(1): 41-53

Bernard Manyena. After Sendai: Is Africa Bouncing Back or Bouncing Forward from Disasters?[J]. International Journal of Disaster Risk Science, 2016, 7(1): 41-53. doi: 10.1007/s13753-016-0084-7

Citation:

Bernard Manyena. After Sendai: Is Africa Bouncing Back or Bouncing Forward from Disasters?[J]. International Journal of Disaster Risk Science, 2016, 7(1): 41-53. doi: 10.1007/s13753-016-0084-7

Bernard Manyena. After Sendai: Is Africa Bouncing Back or Bouncing Forward from Disasters?[J]. International Journal of Disaster Risk Science, 2016, 7(1): 41-53. doi: 10.1007/s13753-016-0084-7

Citation:

Bernard Manyena. After Sendai: Is Africa Bouncing Back or Bouncing Forward from Disasters?[J]. International Journal of Disaster Risk Science, 2016, 7(1): 41-53. doi: 10.1007/s13753-016-0084-7

PDF

After Sendai: Is Africa Bouncing Back or Bouncing Forward from Disasters?

doi: 10.1007/s13753-016-0084-7

Bernard Manyena^,

International Disaster Management, Humanitarian and Conflict Response Institute, University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PL, UK

Available Online: 2021-04-26

Abstract

Abstract

The 187 countries that adopted the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030 at the March 2015 UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction included most African countries. Many developing regions of the world, particularly in Asia and Latin America, made considerable progress in implementing the previous Hyogo Framework for Action 2005–2015. But, despite the fact that Africa is one of the regions most vulnerable and least resilient to disasters, which continue to be exacerbated by poverty, climate change, rapid urbanization, and structural transformation, it saw only slow progress. This article considers the challenges Africa faces in implementing the Sendai Framework and recommends that besides “Africanizing” Sendai goals and strengthening the region’s political commitment to disaster risk reduction (DRR), Africa should also develop a single framework that integrates DRR, sustainable development, climate change adaptation, and conflict prevention. Equally important is the need for a strong recognition that disasters are created endogenously as well as exogenously, and thus require local solutions and local investment.
- Sub-Saharan Africa,
- Climate change adaptation,
- Disaster risk reduction,
- Resilience,
- Sendai framework,
- Sustainable development

FullText(HTML)

References(67)

References

Adelswärd, V., and L. Sachs. 1998. Risk discourse: Recontextualization of numerical values in clinical practice. Text – Interdisciplinary Journal for the Study of Discourse 18(2): 191–210.

Alexander, D.E. 2013. Resilience and disaster risk reduction: An etymological journey. Natural Hazards and Earth System Science 13(11): 2707–2716.

Andersson, C., A. Mekonnen, and J. Stage. 2011. Impacts of the Productive Safety Net Program in Ethiopia on livestock and tree holdings of rural households. Journal of Development Economics 94(1): 119–126.

AU (African Union). 2000. The constitutive act of the African Union. Addis Ababa: AU. http://www.au.int/en/about/constitutive_act. Accessed 10 Mar 2016.

AU (African Union). 2002. Protocol relating to the establishment of the Peace and Security Council of the African Union. Addis Ababa: AU. http://www.au.int/en/sites/default/files/treaties/7781-file-protocol_peace_and_security.pdf. Accessed 11 Mar 2016.

AU (African Union) and UNISDR (United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction). 2010. Extended programme of action for the implementation of the Africa regional strategy for disaster risk reduction (2006–2015) and declaration of the 2nd African Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction 2010. Addis Ababa and Geneva: AU and UNISDR. http://www.droughtmanagement.info/literature/UNISDR_africa_regional_strategy_disaster_risk_reduction_2011.pdf. Accessed 11 Mar 2016.

Birkmann, J., O.D. Cardona, M.L. Carreño, A.H. Barbat, M. Pelling, S. Schneiderbauer, S. Kienberger, M. Keiler, D. Alexander, P. Zeil, and T. Welle. 2013. Framing vulnerability, risk and societal responses: The MOVE framework. Natural Hazards 67(2): 193–211.

Bulley, D. 2013. Producing and governing community (through) resilience. Politics 33(4): 265–275.

Cavallo, E., and I. Noy. 2010. The economics of natural disasters. Inter-American Development Bank working paper series No. IDB-Wp-124. http://www.iadb.org/res/publications/pubfiles/pubidb-wp-124.pdf. Accessed 23 Oct 2015.

Chan, R.K.H. 2009. Risk discourse and politics: Restructuring welfare in Hong Kong. Critical Social Policy 29(1): 24–52.

Chang’a, L.B., P.Z. Yanda, and J. Ngana. 2010. Indigenous knowledge in seasonal rainfall prediction in Tanzania: A case of the south-western highland of Tanzania. Journal of Geography and Regional Planning 3(4): 66–72.

Colson, E. 1971. The social consequencies of resettlement: The impact of Kariba resettlement upon the Gwembe Tonga. Manchester: Manchester University Press.

Conway, D., E. Lisa, and F. Schipper. 2011. Adaptation to climate change in Africa: Challenges and opportunities identified from Ethiopia. Global Environmental Change 21(1): 227–237.

Conyers, D., and F. Cumanzala. 2004. Community empowerment and democracy in Zimbabwe: A case study from Binga District. Social Policy and Administration 38(4): 383–398.

CRED (Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters). 2015. Disaster trends. http://www.emdat.be/. Accessed 23 Oct 2015.

Cuny, F. 1983. Disaster and development. New York: Oxford University Press.

Cutter, S.L., L. Barnes, M. Berry, C. Burton, E. Evans, E. Tate, J. Webb, and L. Acosta-Michlik. 2008. A place-based model for understanding community resilience to natural disasters. Global Environmental Change 18(4): 598–606.

Dynes, R. 1994. Community emergency planning: False assumptions and inappropriate analogies. International Journal of Mass Emergencies and Disasters 12(2): 141–158.

Egeru, A. 2012. Role of indigenous knowledge in climate change adaptation: A case study of the Teso Sub-Region, Eastern Uganda. Indian Journal of Traditional Knowledge 11(2): 217–224.

Frerks, G. 2010. Principles ignored and lessons unlearned: A disaster studies perspective on the tsunami experience in Sri Lanka. In Tsunami recovery in Sri Lanka: Ethnic and regional dimensions, ed. D. McGilvray, and M. Gamburd, 143–162. London and New York: Routledge.

Gari, L. 2006. A history of the himā conservation system. Environment and History 12(2): 213–228.

Gordon, M. 2013. Exploring existing methodologies for allocating and tracking disaster risk reduction in national public investment. Geneva: UNISDR. http://www.preventionweb.net/files/globalplatform/51967c57c3c9fMarc_Gordon,_2013.pdf. Accessed 10 Mar 2016.

INFORM (Index for Risk Management). 2015. INFORM results 2015. http://www.inform-index.org/. Accessed 11 Mar 2016.

IPCC (Intergovernment Panel on Climate Change). 2014. Climate change, adaptation, and vulnerability: Summary of policy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. http://ipcc-wg2.gov/AR5/images/uploads/IPCC_WG2AR5_SPM_Approved.pdf. Accessed 23 Oct 2015.

Joseph, J. 2013. Resilience as embedded neoliberalism: A governmentality approach. Resilience 1(1): 38–52.

Kaya, H.O., and M. Koitsiwe. 2016. African indigenous knowledge systems and natural disaster management in North West Province, South Africa. Journal of Human Ecology 53(2): 101–105.

Kellet, J., and A. Caravani. 2013. Financing disaster risk reduction: A 20 year story of international aid. London: Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery and the Overseas Development Institute. http://www.odi.org/sites/odi.org.uk/files/odi-assets/publications-opinion-files/8574.pdf. Accessed 3 Mar 2016.

Kelman, I. 2015. Climate change and the Sendai framework for disaster risk reduction. International Journal of Disaster Risk Science 6(2): 117–127.

Kishore, K. 2011. Literature review: Mid-term review of the Hyogo Framework for Action. Geneva: UNISDR. http://www.unisdr.org/files/18197_000kishore.literaturereview.pdf. Accessed 11 Mar 2016.

Koks, E.E., B. Jongman, T.G. Husby, and W.J.W. Botzen. 2015. Combining hazard, exposure and social vulnerability to provide lessons for flood risk management. Environmental Science & Policy 47: 42–52.

Lavell, A., and A. Maskrey. 2014. The future of disaster risk management. Environmental Hazards 13(4): 267–280.

Lessing, D. 1993. African laughter: Four visits to Zimbabwe. London: Flamingo.

Magadza, C.H.D. 2010. Environmental state of Lake Kariba and Zambezi River Valley: Lessons learned and not learned. Lakes & Reservoirs: Research & Management 15(3): 167–192.

Manyena, S.B. 2006. The concept of resilience revisited. Disasters 30(4): 434–450.

Manyena, S.B. 2009. Disaster resilience in development and humanitarian interventions. Doctoral thesis, Northumbria University, Newcastle uponTyne. http://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/661/. Accessed 10 Mar 2016.

Manyena, S.B. 2013. Non-implementation of development plans and participatory action research in Zimbabwe. Planning Theory & Practice 14(3): 315–332.

Manyena, B., and S. Gordon. 2015. Bridging the concepts of resilience, fragility and stabilisation. Disaster Prevention and Management 24(1): 38–52.

Marktanner, M., E. Mienie, and L. Noiset. 2015. From armed conflict to disaster vulnerability. Disaster Prevention and Mangement 24(1): 53–69.

Masinde, M. 2015. An innovative drought early warning system for sub-Saharan Africa: Integrating modern and indigenous approaches. African Journal of Science, Technology, Innovation and Development 7(1): 8–25.

Matyas, D., and M. Pelling. 2015. Positioning resilience for 2015: The role of resistance, incremental adjustment and transformation in disaster risk management policy. Disasters 39(S1): S1–S18.

Mavhura, E., S.B. Manyena, A.E. Collins, and D. Manatsa. 2013. Indigenous knowledge, coping strategies and resilience to floods in Muzarabani, Zimbabwe. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction 5: 38–48.

Nel, P., and M. Righarts. 2008. Natural disasters and the risk of violent civil conflict. International Studies Quarterly 52(1): 159–185.

Nelson, D.R., W.N. Adger, and K. Brown. 2007. Adaptation to environmental change: Contributions of a resilience framework. Annual Review of Environment Resources 32(1): 395–419.

Norris, F.H., H., Susan, P. Stevens, B. Pfefferbaum, K.F. Wyche, and R.L. Pfefferbaum. 2008. Community resilience as a metaphor, theory, set of capacities, and strategy for disaster readiness. American Journal of Community Psychology 41(1–2): 127–150.

O’Brien, G., and P. O’Keefe. 2013. Managing adaptation to climate risk: Beyond fragmented responses. London: Routledge.

O’Keefe, P., K. Westgate, and B. Wisner. 1976. Taking the naturalness out of natural disasters. Nature 260(5552): 566–567.

Pan, J., Y.T. Feng, F. Jin, and C. Zhang. 2013. Numerical prediction of swelling in concrete arch dams affected by alkali-aggregate reaction. European Journal of Environmental and Civil Engineering 17(4): 231–247.

SADC (Southern African Development Community). 2015. Report on the post-season review workshop 2014/15 on disaster risk reduction, 19–22 May 2015, Johannesburg, South Africa. Gaborone: SADC.

Schehr, R.C. 2005. Conventional risk discourse and the proliferation of fear. Criminal Justice Policy Review 16(1): 38–58.

Schipper, L., and M. Pelling, 2006. Disaster risk, climate change and international development: Scope for, and challenges to integration. Disasters 30(1): 19–38.

Tanner, T., S. Surminski, E. Wilkinson, R. Reid, J. Rentschler, and S. Rajput. 2015. The triple dividend of resilience: Realising development goals through the multiple benefits of disaster risk management. London: Overseas Development Institute; Washington, DC: The World Bank. http://www.odi.org/sites/odi.org.uk/files/odi-assets/publications-opinion-files/10103.pdf. Accessed 8 Feb 2016.

Twigg, J. 2007. Characteristics of a disaster-resilient community: A guidance note. London: University College London, Benefield Hazard Centre.

UNECA (United Nations Economic Commission for Africa). 2014. Subregional assessment on mainstreaming and implementing disaster risk reduction measures in southern Africa. Addis Ababa: UNECA.

UNECA (United Nations Economic Commission for Africa). 2015. Assessment report on mainstreaming and implementing disaster risk reduction and management in Africa. Addis Ababa: UNECA.

UNISDR (United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction). 2005. Hyogo framework for action 2005–2015: Building the resilience of nations and communities to disasters. http://www.un-documents.net/hfa.htm. Accessed 3 Mar 2016.

UNISDR (United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction). 2013. Global assessment report on disaster risk reduction 2013: From shared risk to shared value: The business case for disaster risk reduction. http://www.preventionweb.net/english/hyogo/gar/2013/en/home/index.html. Accessed 3 Mar 2016.

UNISDR (United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction). 2014a. Fifth Africa regional platform and third ministerial meeting for disaster risk reduction. Abuja: UNISDR.

UNISDR (United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction). 2014b. Status report on implementation of Africa regional strategy and Hyogo framework for action. http://www.unisdr.org/we/inform/publications/35923. Accessed 3 Mar 2016.

UNISDR (United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction). 2015a. Sendai framework for disaster risk reduction 2015–2030. Geneva: UNISDR.

UNISDR (United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction). 2015b. Making development sustainable: The future of disaster risk management. Global assessment report on disaster risk reduction. Geneva: UNISDR.

WCD (World Commission on Dams). 2000. Kariba Dam case study—Zambia and Zimbabwe. Cape Town: World Commission on Dams.

Weist, K. 1995. Development refugees: Africans, Indians and the big dams. Journal of Refugee Studies 8(2): 163–184.

Welsh, M. 2014. Resilience and responsibility: Governing uncertainty in a complex world. Geographical Journal 180(1): 15–26.

Wijkman, A., and L.Timberlake. 1984. Natural disasters: Acts of god or acts of man. London: Earthscan.

Wisner, B., P. Blaikie, T. Cannon, and I. Davis. 2004. At risk: Natural hazards, people’s vulnerability and disasters. London: Routledge.

Wisner, B., and P. Walker. 2005. The world conference on disaster viewed through the lens of political ecology: A dozen big questions for Kobe and beyond. Capitalism, Nature, Socialism 16(2): 89–95.

Wynne, B. 2002. Risk and environment as legitimatory discourses of technology: Reflexivity inside out? Current Sociology 50(3): 459–477.

Relative Articles

Supplements(0)

Cited By

Proportional views