Disaster Resilience In South Asia

This book considers the challenges of building disaster resilience in South Asia – a region that frequently experiences some of the most severe and devastating impacts of disasters. Despite significant work to assist affected communities, many smaller South Asian countries remain particularly vulnerable in terms of fostering disaster resilience. Drawing on examples from Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka, the book offers rich insights and narratives on disaster resilience policy and practice. It considers the possibilities for advancing community resilience and capacity building through an exploration of different aspects of governance and policy. Given the diversity of these countries and recent disasters, a variety of perspectives are considered: institutional and policy frameworks, risk management governance, recovery operations, building codes, and policy and media discourse. The book offers a collective understanding of practice, which can offer global lessons to a world increasingly beset by disasters and with uncertain environmental futures. This book will be a valuable resource for scholars, practitioners and students in the fields of disaster risk reduction and management, climate change adaptation, public policy and sustainable development.

To mitigate, develop, and improve the lives of those vulnerable to intense natural disasters, climate change, and food insecurity, many agencies are funding and implementing diverse activities from reconstruction to rehabilitation, and this book presents the lessons and impacts from a collection of these projects. It describes concepts, strategies, processes, and tools in such a way that they can be easily replicated and shared with a wider audience. This study explains that mid- to long-term interventions, strategies, and practical approaches in particular are being designed and adopted to build the resilience of the poor. It describes valuable practical experiences and lessons from the field, capturing a range of interventions from implementing agencies involved in post-disaster rehabilitation. It is comprised of 79 papers grouped into four sections: coastal threats and challenges in South Asia; disaster risk reduction and the combining of resilience, mitigation, and adaptation; pathways for building the capacity of vulnerable communities to withstand and rebuild from natural disasters; and real-life postdisaster rehabilitation and resilience-building projects that have led to positive change at the community level. This is an exceptional resource for anyone concerned with disaster management and rehabilitation work, including students, researchers, policymakers, and members of nongovernmental organizations.

This book aims to provide insight into how Southeast Asian countries have responded to disasters, recovered, and rebuilt. It investigates emergency response and disaster recovery cases at national levels and from regional perspectives. Recovery from great disasters poses great challenges to affected countries in terms of organization, financing, and opportunities for post-disaster betterment. Importantly, disasters are critical moments in which to achieve disaster risk reduction, especially in the context of climate change and Sustainable Development Goals. Insights from these cases can help other countries better prepare for response and recovery before the next disaster strikes. While the experiences of disaster risk reduction and climate change implementation in Southeast Asian countries have been well documented, tacit knowledge from emergency response and recovery from these countries has not been transformed into explicit knowledge. There are only a few books that integrate information and lessons from post-disaster governance in Southeast Asia as a region, and because of the importance of providing real and recent situations, this book will interest many policymakers, practitioners, and academics. The information presented here will lead to a better understanding of how to plan for future disasters and improve governance to ensure effective emergency response as well as encouraging a build back better and safer towards a more resilient and sustained recovery.

South Asia is one of the most vulnerable areas of an increasingly disaster-impacted world, with cyclones, earthquakes, floods and droughts causing several casualties and disrupting lives and livelihoods every year. Yet the impacts of disasters are not equally distributed across the peoples of the region.Women and men experience disaster differently, and their needs in the aftermath of disaster often differ. Bringing together perspectives from academics, emergency response specialists and development practitioners, the volume investigates to what extent and in what ways gender affects the course of post-disaster reconstruction. Conversely, it also explores in what ways gender politics may be altered by disaster and post-disaster reconstruction. The study includes: a comprehensive overview of key issues facing women and men, as gendered beings, in reconstruction and development; a targeted observation of specific South Asian disaster contexts; and a sustained discussion of case studies and their implications and lessons. This book will interest scholars and researchers of disaster management, rehabilitation studies, gender, environment, ecology and sociology. It will also be useful to institutions dealing with natural and man-made disasters, non-governmental organisations and disaster recovery professionals.

Covering disaster scenarios, and the causes and consequences of disaster displacement, Disaster, Displacement and Resilient Livelihoods: Perspectives from South Asia focuses on the South Asian context, generating new insights and considering the policy implications of strategies for building resilient livelihoods.

This open access book documents myriads of ways community-based climate change adaptation and resilience programs are being implemented in South Asian countries. The narrative style of writing in this volume makes it accessible to a diverse audience from academics and researchers to practitioners in various governmental, non-governmental and international agencies. At a time when climate change presents humanity with a gloomy future, the stories of innovation, creativity, grassroots engagement and locally applicable solutions highlighted in this book provides insights into hopeful ways of approaching climate solutions. South Asian countries have been dealing with the impact of climate change for decades and thus offer valuable learning opportunities for developing countries within and beyond the region as well as many western countries that are confronting the wrath of climate induced natural disasters more recently. SANDEE has been a pioneer in the development of research and training in environmental economics and related issues in South Asia and Prof Maler has been throughout SANDEE's history, its mentor, and its strongest supporter. Many young economists in South Asia have significantly benefited from Prof Maler's guidance and inputs. The present volume on “Climate Change and Community Resilience: Insights from South Asia” is a fitting tribute and an excellent reflection of Prof Maler's contributions to the SANDEE programme throughout his association. - Mahesh Banskota, Ph.D. Professor, Development Studies School of Arts, Kathmandu University This comprehensive volume aptly identifies grassroots initiatives as the core of the problem of adaptation to climate change. The analysis of the different experiments is lucid, inclusive, and full of interesting detail. The methodologies used and the subjects covered span a range of frameworks and narratives. Put together, the studies are a fitting tribute to Karl-Goran Maler, who spent years putting his impeccable expertise to use for the cause of enhancing research in South Asia. - Kanchan Chopra, Ph.D. Former Director and Professor, Institute of Economic Growth, Delhi, and Fellow, SANDEE The slow international policy response to climate change elevates the importance of understanding how communities can respond to climate change’s many threats. This unusually accessible volume provides that understanding for South Asia while being relevant to the rest of the world. Its emphasis on research by scholars from the region makes it a wonderful tribute to Prof. Karl-Göran Mäler, who contributed so much to the growth of environmental economics research capacity in South Asia. - Jeffrey R. Vincent, Ph.D. Clarence F. Korstian Professor of Forest Economics & Management Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University, USA

South Asia represents a region highly prone to natural disasters. Disasters not only disrupt the normal life of the affected communities and the countries but also impede developmental efforts. By and large, the approach of the major stakeholders has been 'reactive' rather than 'proactive'. There is indeed, a dire need for concerted and well-planned efforts to achieve risk reduction through risk identification, and sharing and transfer of information. This edited volume explores how the risk of disasters can be reduced by structural and non-structural measures with detailed, comprehensive and participatory strategies. Twenty-seven contributors, both academicians and practitioners, investigate the challenges that the region faces and how changes can be effected at the community, society, government and non-government levels to foster a culture of preparedness. The overall focus is on risk reduction through prevention, preparedness, mitigation, response, recovery, rehabilitation and reconstruction. Some case studies from different settings dealing with various disasters have also been included. Since disaster risk reduction is an area of great concern and there is absolute dearth of literature addressing this issue with regard to South Asia, this volume will be of immense utility and interest to government departments, NGOs, insurance companies, universities, training institutions, professional associates, media, general public, and students pursuing courses in disaster management.