scholarly journals DISASTER RISK MANAGEMENT IN MALAYSIA: ISSUES AND CHALLENGES FROM THE PERSEPCTIVE OF AGENCIES

2018 ◽  
Vol 16 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Noraini Omar Chong ◽  
Khairul Hisyam Kamarudin
Keyword(s):  
Risk Management ◽  
Disaster Management ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Disaster Risk ◽  
Disaster Risk Management ◽  
Management Planning ◽  
Loss Of Life ◽  
Physical Elements ◽  
Disaster Management Planning

Disaster is a major threat that could jeopardise the development of economic, social and physical elements of a nation as well as the well-being of its people. The damage and loss of property and life caused by disasters are overwhelming and least desired by any country. Review of literature as presented in this research indicated that by having a good disaster risk management (DRM) plan and well-coordinated efforts and commitment among related disaster management agencies at all levels and local stakeholders, would potentially lead to disaster risk reductions, increase preparedness and response, and reduction of damage to assets and loss of life. With a long list of agencies and aid bodies that are currently involved in various stages of DRM, putting the idea into reality has proven to be highly challenging particularly on establishing good coordination between agencies and with other stakeholders for a more effective DRM process. This paper identified three major issues and challenges in DRM in Malaysia, particularly from the perspective of agencies. These issues and challenges include (1) disaster management planning imbalanced between top-down and bottom-up approaches, (2) lack of coordination in disaster management cycle, with greater focus only on the disaster emergency response stage and, (3) lack of planning of long-term recovery (post-disaster) process, which resulted in low level community and stakeholders’ resilience to disasters.

scholarly journals DISASTER RISK MANAGEMENT IN MALAYSIA: ISSUES AND CHALLENGES FROM THE PERSEPCTIVE OF AGENCIES

2018 ◽  
Vol 16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Noraini Omar Chong ◽  
Khairul Hisyam Kamarudin
Keyword(s):  
Risk Management ◽  
Disaster Management ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Disaster Risk ◽  
Disaster Risk Management ◽  
Management Planning ◽  
Loss Of Life ◽  
Physical Elements ◽  
Disaster Management Planning

Disaster is a major threat that could jeopardise the development of economic, social and physical elements of a nation as well as the well-being of its people. The damage and loss of property and life caused by disasters are overwhelming and least desired by any country. Review of literature as presented in this research indicated that by having a good disaster risk management (DRM) plan and well-coordinated efforts and commitment among related disaster management agencies at all levels and local stakeholders, would potentially lead to disaster risk reductions, increase preparedness and response, and reduction of damage to assets and loss of life. With a long list of agencies and aid bodies that are currently involved in various stages of DRM, putting the idea into reality has proven to be highly challenging particularly on establishing good coordination between agencies and with other stakeholders for a more effective DRM process. This paper identified three major issues and challenges in DRM in Malaysia, particularly from the perspective of agencies. These issues and challenges include (1) disaster management planning imbalanced between top-down and bottom-up approaches, (2) lack of coordination in disaster management cycle, with greater focus only on the disaster emergency response stage and, (3) lack of planning of long-term recovery (post-disaster) process, which resulted in low level community and stakeholders’ resilience to disasters.

scholarly journals Current and Emerging Disaster Risks Perceptions in Oceania: Key Stakeholders Recommendations for Disaster Management and Resilience Building

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 460 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph Cuthbertson ◽  
Jose Rodriguez-Llanes ◽  
Andrew Robertson ◽  
Frank Archer
Keyword(s):  
Risk Management ◽  
Disaster Management ◽  
Good Governance ◽  
Management Practice ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Disaster Risk ◽  
Community Action ◽  
Disaster Risk Management ◽  
Disaster Impact ◽  
Key Informant

Identification and profiling of current and emerging disaster risks is essential to inform effective disaster risk management practice. Without clear evidence, readiness to accept future threats is low, resulting in decreased ability to detect and anticipate these new threats. A consequential decreased strategic planning for mitigation, adaptation or response results in a lowered resilience capacity. This study aimed to investigate threats to the health and well-being of societies associated with disaster impact in Oceania. The study used a mixed methods approach to profile current and emerging disaster risks in selected countries of Oceania, including small and larger islands. Quantitative analysis of the International Disaster Database (EM-DAT) provided historical background on disaster impact in Oceania from 2000 to 2018. The profile of recorded events was analyzed to describe the current burden of disasters in the Oceania region. A total of 30 key informant interviews with practitioners, policy managers or academics in disaster management in the Oceania region provided first-hand insights into their perceptions of current and emerging threats, and identified opportunities to enhance disaster risk management practice and resilience in Oceania. Qualitative methods were used to analyze these key informant interviews. Using thematic analysis, we identified emerging disaster risk evidence from the data and explored new pathways to support decision-making on resilience building and disaster management. We characterized perceptions of the nature and type of contemporary and emerging disaster risk with potential impacts in Oceania. The study findings captured not only traditional and contemporary risks, such as climate change, but also less obvious ones, such as plastic pollution, rising inequality, uncontrolled urbanization, and food and water insecurity, which were perceived as contributors to current and/or future crises, or as crises themselves. The findings provided insights into how to improve disaster management more effectively, mainly through bottom-up approaches and education to increase risk-ownership and community action, enhanced political will, good governance practices and support of a people-centric approach.

scholarly journals The role of traditional leadership in disaster management and disaster risk governance: A case of Ugu District Municipality by-laws

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nonhlanhla A. Zamisa ◽  
Sybert Mutereko
Keyword(s):  
Risk Management ◽  
Risk Reduction ◽  
Disaster Management ◽  
Disaster Risk Reduction ◽  
Disaster Risk ◽  
Disaster Risk Management ◽  
Risk Governance ◽  
Traditional Leaders ◽  
Traditional Leadership

Section 151(2) of the Constitution empowers municipalities in South Africa to pass disaster management-related by-laws. Such by-laws should be specific on the role of traditional leaders, owing to their authority and proximity to the people coupled with their constitutional mandate to preserve customs and traditions. However, their role is often not maximised because of vague and inadequate policies. There has been little or no scholarly attention to the role of traditional leadership and the policy and legal framework that guide their participation in disaster risk management. Employing a comprehensive content analysis of Ugu District Municipality Disaster Management By-law, this article assesses the adequacy of these by-laws on disaster risk governance in the context of collaboration disaster risk reduction. While the Ugu District Municipality Disaster Management By-law provides for the participation of traditional leadership, this study reveals that it is fraught with ambiguities and seemingly vague clauses. For instance, although in Article 5.1.1 the word ‘authorities’ is used, it is not clear whether this refers to traditional leadership or other entities at the local level. In addition, the composition of the Disaster Management Advisory Forum in Ugu does not explicitly include AmaKhosi. While these results add to the rapidly expanding field of disaster risk management, they also suggest several courses of action for policymakers at local government. Such actions might include, but not limited to, a review of the by-laws to address the lack of collaborative essence relative to traditional leaders for optimal disaster risk reduction initiatives targeting traditional communities.

Natural Hazards Governance in Indonesia

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bevaola Kusumasari
Keyword(s):  
Risk Management ◽  
Natural Hazards ◽  
Disaster Management ◽  
Forest Fires ◽  
Natural Hazard ◽  
Disaster Risk ◽  
Disaster Risk Management ◽  
Soil Conditions ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Active Tectonic

Geographically, Indonesia is located in southeast Asia between the Indian and the Pacific Oceans. It is recognized as an active tectonic region because it consists of three major active tectonic plates: the Eurasian plate in the north, the Indo-Australian plate in the south, and the Pacific plate in the east. The southern and eastern parts of the country feature a volcanic arc stretching from the islands of Sumatra, Java, Nusa Tenggara, and Sulawesi, while the remainder of the region comprises old volcanic mountains and lowlands partly dominated by marshes. Territorially, it is located in a tropical climate area, with its two seasons—wet and dry—exhibiting characteristic weather changes, such as with regard to temperature and wind direction, that can be quite extreme. These climatic conditions combine with the region’s relatively diverse surface and rock topographies to provide fertile soil conditions. Conversely, the same conditions can lead to negative outcomes for this densely populated country, in particular, the occurrence of hydrometeorological disasters such as floods, landslides, forest fires, and drought. The 2017 World Risk Report’s ranking of countries’ relative vulnerability and exposure to natural hazards such as earthquakes, storms, floods, droughts, and sea-level rise calculated Indonesia to be the 33rd most at-risk country. Between 1815 and 2018, 23,250 natural hazards occurred here; 302,849 people died or were otherwise lost, 371,059 were injured, and there were 39,514,636 displaced persons, as well as billions of rupiah in losses. The most frequent type of natural hazard has been floods (8,919 instances), followed by cyclones (5,984), and then landslides (4,947). Following these latest disasters and acknowledging that Indonesia is becoming increasingly vulnerable to such natural hazards, the country’s government established a comprehensive disaster management system. Specifically, it instituted an organization capable of and responsible for handling such a wide-reaching and complex situation as a natural hazard. A coordinated national body had first been developed in 1966, but the current discourse concerning proactive disaster risk management at national and local levels has encouraged the central government to adapt this organization toward becoming more accountable to and involving the participation of local communities. Law No. 24/2007 of the Republic of Indonesia Concerning Disaster Management, issued on April 26, 2007, established a new National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB), but it also focusses on community-based disaster risk management pre- and post-disaster. Through the BNPB and by executing legislative reform to implement recommendations from the international disaster response laws, Indonesia has become a global leader in legal preparedness for natural hazards and the reduction of human vulnerability.

Building Disaster Risk Reduction in Asia: A Way Forward

2006 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 142-147
Author(s):  
Earl Kessler
Keyword(s):  
Risk Management ◽  
Risk Reduction ◽  
Disaster Management ◽  
Disaster Preparedness ◽  
Regional Cooperation ◽  
Disaster Risk ◽  
Disaster Risk Management ◽  
Disaster Mitigation ◽  
Urban Disaster ◽  
Domestic Capital

Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC) was established in 1986. It was restructured in July 2003 to focus on specific technical areas: climate variability and change management, urban disaster risk management, public health in emergencies, building national and provincial disaster management systems, and community based disaster risk management (CBDRM), promoting regional cooperation, identifying disaster risk management (DRM) needs in the region and developing strategic solutions. The consolidation enables ADPC's teams to work more effectively with stakeholders and build cross-team inputs into their work. Multiple hazards under this new thematic approach are a key concept along with new areas of importance to DRM that include chemical, biological and radio-nuclear risks, heritage and disaster mitigation, and the role of domestic capital markets in financing improvements in the built environment to create a safer, more disaster-resilient world. The terms “risk management”, “risk reduction”, “vulnerability reduction”, “capacity building” and “mitigation” began replacing the reactive term “disaster management”, thus making pro-active DRM in Asia part of the development agenda that must deal with the growing variety and intensity of hazards. It was a shift from short-term, reactive, charity-driven responses to long-term, proactive, development initiatives. Making the right development choices requires coordinated efforts by committed leaders who have the political will and determination to include risk reduction measures in their policies and plans; a corporate sector that will prioritise risk issues and include them into their business plans; scientists who will provide the knowledge and understanding of current and new areas of risk reduction; committed non-government agencies that advocate for risk reduction; educators who are responsible for shaping the awareness of future generations; a mass media that has the power to influence and change behaviour; and informed citizens who make choices about the risks in their lives.

scholarly journals Sociodemographic Predictors of Health Risk Perception, Attitude and Behavior Practices Associated with Health-Emergency Disaster Risk Management for Biological Hazards: The Case of COVID-19 Pandemic in Hong Kong, SAR China

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (11) ◽  
pp. 3869 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emily Ying Yang Chan ◽  
Zhe Huang ◽  
Eugene Siu Kai Lo ◽  
Kevin Kei Ching Hung ◽  
Eliza Lai Yi Wong ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Risk Management ◽  
Hong Kong ◽  
Risk Perception ◽  
Health Risk ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Disaster Risk ◽  
Disaster Risk Management ◽  
Behavior Patterns ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
And Behavior

In addition to top-down Health-Emergency and Disaster Risk Management (Health-EDRM) efforts, bottom-up individual and household measures are crucial for prevention and emergency response of the COVID-19 pandemic, a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC). There is limited scientific evidence of the knowledge, perception, attitude and behavior patterns of the urban population. A computerized randomized digital dialing, cross-sectional, population landline-based telephone survey was conducted from 22 March to 1 April 2020 in Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China. Data were collected for socio-demographic characteristics, knowledge, attitude and risk perception, and various self-reported Health-EDRM behavior patterns associated with COVID-19. The final study sample was 765. Although the respondents thought that individuals (68.6%) had similar responsibilities as government (67.5%) in infection control, less than 50% had sufficient health risk management knowledge to safeguard health and well-being. Among the examined Health-EDRM measures, significant differences were found between attitude and practice in regards to washing hands with soap, ordering takeaways, wearing masks, avoidance of visiting public places or using public transport, and travel avoidance to COVID-19-confirmed regions. Logistic regression indicated that the elderly were less likely to worry about infection with COVID-19. Compared to personal and household hygiene practices, lower compliance was found for public social distancing.

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