The role of public participation in disaster risk reduction initiatives: The case of Katlehong township

Jàmbá: Journal of Disaster Risk Studies

 
 
Field Value
 
Title The role of public participation in disaster risk reduction initiatives: The case of Katlehong township
 
Creator Nkombi, Ziyanda Wentink, Gideon J.
 
Subject Disaster Management disaster; disaster risk management; disaster risk reduction; hazard; Katlehong; public participation; risk
Description Disaster risk reduction (DRR) has become a policy priority worldwide and in line with this trend, the South African Disaster Management Act and National Disaster Management Framework prioritise DRR in efforts to build resilient communities with local municipalities being required to develop their own Disaster Management Frameworks. The problem is that public participation is treated as of secondary importance yet international agreements such as the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (SFDRR) actively promote public participation in DRR. A bottom-up approach is the most effective in ensuring successful DRR initiatives at the local level because communities take ownership of these initiatives and gain a better understanding of their risks. Community-based disaster risk reduction originated in the paradigm shift away from the traditional disaster management approach, moving away from reactive responses in the top-down approach in disaster risk management to more proactive responses. This research study explored approaches used for public participation to ensure successful DRR initiatives in Katlehong township. The study is exploratory and descriptive, having used qualitative and quantitative research approaches, which included questionnaires and interviews. The results gleaned from the data suggested that the role of public participation in DRR initiatives is ineffective in Katlehong township because of the reluctance of stakeholders to participate in DRR. Accordingly, it was recommended that the municipality host stakeholder sessions where stakeholders are informed about the role of the centre and about their own role in DRR. Such stakeholder sessions should assist in resolving issues such as confusion about the stakeholders’ roles in DRR and help to obtain buy-in from all the stakeholders.
 
Publisher AOSIS
 
Contributor
Date 2022-02-28
 
Type info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion — —
Format text/html application/epub+zip text/xml application/pdf
Identifier 10.4102/jamba.v14i1.1203
 
Source Jàmbá: Journal of Disaster Risk Studies; Vol 14, No 1 (2022); 12 pages 1996-1421 2072-845X
 
Language eng
 
Relation
The following web links (URLs) may trigger a file download or direct you to an alternative webpage to gain access to a publication file format of the published article:

https://jamba.org.za/index.php/jamba/article/view/1203/2227 https://jamba.org.za/index.php/jamba/article/view/1203/2228 https://jamba.org.za/index.php/jamba/article/view/1203/2229 https://jamba.org.za/index.php/jamba/article/view/1203/2230
 
Coverage Katlehong Township; South Africa — —
Rights Copyright (c) 2022 Ziyanda Nkombi, Gideon J. Wentink https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
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