Disaster Management In Sub Saharan Africa

A combined analysis of all the chapters provides an interesting summary and information for creating disaster management policies for improved results in SSA. With an extensive glossary of terms and index, the book lends itself to specialized academics and students, but also to disaster management policy makers and practitioners.

Rwanda's horrific civil war suggests that human disasters requiring outside intervention will remain common in Sub-Saharan Africa. The American people want a prompt and effective response to human disasters when the United States becomes involved. The Army is taking steps to enhance its demonstrated effectiveness at such operations. Steven Metz examines the policy and strategy implications of violence-induced human disasters in Sub-Saharan Africa with special emphasis on Rwanda. The author argues that our senior military leaders, policymakers and strategists must better understand the African security environment. He also warns that to avoid overtaxing the military, U.S. objectives in African disaster relief must be limited. This combination of limited policy goals and operational efficiency will allow the U.S. military to serve public demands at a minimal cost to its other efforts.

Natural and human-induced environmental hazards are becoming increasingly prominent. The frequency of recorded natural disasters rose markedly during the last century, from about 100 per in the years up to 1940 to nearly 2800 during the 1990s. Africa is the only continent whose share of reported disasters has increased over the past decade. Several factors contribute to Africa’s high vulnerability to disasters. These include the high rate of population growth, food insecurity, high levels of poverty, inappropriate use of natural resources, and failures of policy and institutional frameworks. Despite the huge negative impact of natural and human-induced hazards on Africa’s development, little is done to prevent them. Disaster prevention contributes to lasting improvement in safety and sustainable livelihoods and is essential as part of integrated disaster management strategies. The provision of effective scientific input to policy formulation on various issues related to hazards and disasters is an ambitious undertaking. It requires the collaborative effort of the African scientific community to develop comprehensive long-term strategies and human capacity-building initiatives that will enable science to benefit society. This will further require: a) Building strong research and training institutions in Africa at national and regional levels; b) Facilitating the exchange of scientific information and sharing of ideas across borders; c) Strengthening the link between scientific research and policy making; d) Promoting outreach activities to build resilience to disaster risk; and e) Tapping the knowledge base of rural and urban communities. In this volume, the ICSU ROA has brought together selected African scientific researchers to share their views on policy direction for facing challenges linked to natural and human-induced hazards. The book is intended for policy advisers, environmental scientists, government officials and members of the general public with a special interest in environmental issues.

Human disasters born of armed conflict will continue to plague Sub-Saharan Africa. When the American people demand engagement, the U.S. military, especially the Army/Air Force team, responds effectively and efficiently when local order has collapsed or when local authorities resist relief efforts. The better that Army planners and leaders understand the nature of African conflict and the better they've prepared before such conflicts occur, the greater the likelihood the Army can fulfill the public's expectations at minimum cost to other efforts. Why Rwanda Happened. Human disasters in Sub-Saharan Africa are characterized by widespread famine and disease, and often by large refugee movements which overwhelm precarious systems of public health and provision. They are almost always the direct or indirect result of organized violence combined with economic stagnation and disintegration, population pressure, ecological decay, and regional conflict. Some are deliberately engineered by a regime or local authorities to punish opponents, derail a separatist movement, or undercut support for an insurgency. Others are accidental, occurring when authority collapses. Because of its combination of a history of primal violence, intra-elite struggle, a weak economy, proximity to conflict-ridden neighbors, and a lack of outside interest, Rwanda was especially vulnerable to human disaster. In many ways, the crisis of 1994 was the inevitable result of 50 years of misrule, repression, and violence.

Published with ProVention Consortium, UNDP and UN-Habitat 'This excellent book is essential reading for those concerned with urban risk and its reduction in Africa, the most rapidly urbanizing region of the world.' Professor Jo Beall, Development Studies Institute, London School of Economics 'At last a book that recognizes the impacts of disasters on Africa's 350 million urban dwellers, including the many disasters that get overlooked and go unrecorded. But also a book that, through careful case studies, shows what creates disaster risk and what local measures can be taken to address it.' David Satterthwaite, International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED). 'This innovative volume combines the latest conceptualisations of urban disaster risk and vulnerability with case studies from across the African continent on how existing and innovative information can inform efforts to address the problems. Coverage ranges from the major catastrophes of news headlines to small, everyday disasters with which poor urban residents have to cope in their survival strategies. Written by international authorities and local specialists, this extremely useful book should find a place in the hands of academics and practitioners alike.' Professor David Simon, Department of Geography, Royal Holloway, University of London This is a one-of-a-kind book packed with original research and offering an innovative way of thinking about the reduction of risk in rapidly urbanizing cities across the globe. It is a must-have for professionals, researchers and policy makers. The book addresses four inter-related themes critical for urban risk reduction: environment; livehood; urban governance and the generation of urban risks. Its focus is on Africa, the most rapidly urbanizing world region, but it illustrates global processes. Part one reviews development, urbanization and disaster risk in Africa as a whole, identifies state-of-the-art practices and policies for building urban resilience and provides a tool kit for urban risk reduction. It also presents a powerful conceptual framework to analyse and compare disaster risk and resilience in different cities and communities. Part two presents detailed case studies from Algeria, Ghana, Senegal, Kenya, Tanzania and South Africa illustrating vulnerability to hazards ranging from earthquake to shack fire, environmental health hazards, traffic hazards and flooding. Part three looks to the future and outlines a vision for a safer urban Africa based on achieving gains in human security through inclusive governance and investment in the creative capacities of Africa's urban dwellers. With foreword by Anna Tibaijuka, Executive Director, UN-HABITAT

This report is the second of a series on emergencies and disaster relief published by the Swedish International Development Authority and the Nordic Africa Institute. It contains two papers that focus on some longer term impacts of refugee and migrant worker flows which have implications for the way humanitarian relief is conceptualised and planned. The first is an overview of migrant worker and refugee flows in Sub-Saharan Africa. It suggests that the negative impact of exporting male workers from rural households has been overemphasised. While there is psychological stress from family separations and the spread of Aids is associated with labour migration, such movements can also be viewed as a capital accumulation strategy which financially benefits the sending households without necessarily leading to a drop in their agricultural production and as vital foreign exchange for the sending country through incoming remittances. It also suggests that the presence of refugees is not necessarily an economic burden for the host country. Refugees may, as a labour source and as consumers, contribute to development. The second paper reviews the literature on shelter and settlement strategies for refugees. It advocates a conceptual approach which is developmental rather than relief-oriented, an approach which integrates refugees' and hosts' needs and puts emphasis on tackling the long term consequences of mass forced migration. Current practice is critically appraised to draw out the lessons of best practice and find alternatives to encampment style shelter. The author does not believe that the integrated planning and durable housing which he advocates would dissuade refugees from repatriating.