Multi-level Governance for Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) and Governance: A Broad Synopsis

Edited by Lisa Guppy and Yulia Ioffe
 

The close relationship between development and disaster risk highlights the need to consider both factors in planning and decision-making. In order to mainstream disaster risk governance, several key entry points must be planned and implemented, including policy development and institutional reforms. The institutional dimension of such governance measures involves strengthening institutions and their capacity to manage disasters effectively. The policy dimension of disaster risk governance focuses on the development and implementation of disaster risk reduction (DRR) policies and resilience building. In addition to policy and institutional reforms, advocacy, knowledge, and smart support systems are also critical for implementing measures to reduce the risk of disasters. 

This chapter aims to provide an in-depth analysis of the importance of disaster risk governance and the role of multi-level governance in enhancing resilience and reducing the risk of disasters, with a focus on the institutional and policy dimensions of disaster risk governance and supported by up-to-date data and research findings from broad literature sources. We argue that an effective disaster risk governance strategy involves a wide range of levels of actors and agencies, including local communities, national decision-makers, and international and intragovernmental organizations. To boost resilience, multi-level governance could join sectoral adaptation approaches toward a more collaborative framework for planning and deploying DRR strategies.