Assessing equity in disaster risk governance in Brazil and Colombia
Disaster Prevention and Management
ISSN: 0965-3562
Article publication date: 29 November 2023
Issue publication date: 5 December 2023
Abstract
Purpose
Disasters continue to be most prevalent and severe for marginalised communities. To reach those furthest behind first, as the global community pledges in the 2030 Agenda, a critical assessment of equity in disaster risk governance is necessary. Yet, the understanding of factors that mediate the capacity of the governance processes to achieve equity ambitions is limited. This paper addresses this gap by proposing and testing a conceptual framework to assess equity in disaster risk governance.
Design/methodology/approach
The framework analyses the extent to which institutional relationships and data in risk governance support inclusion and diversity of voice and enable the equitable engagement of communities. The study applied the framework to key risk policies across governance levels in Brazil and Colombia.
Findings
The study finds that institutional awareness of cross-sectoral and -scalar coordination clearly exists. Yet, the engagement of actors further down the governance scale is framed reactively at all scales in both countries. The analysis of the risk data practices indicates that although data integration and sharing are key policy priorities, the policies frame the relations of disaster risk data actors as hierarchical, with data needs determined from the top down.
Originality/value
A key contribution of this framework is that its equity view results in a nuanced analysis, thus pointing to the differences between the two countries concerning the factors that mediate these challenges and providing specific entry points for strengthening equity in risk governance policies.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
This article is part of the UKRI Global Challenges Research Fund Project URBE Latam: Understanding Risks and Building Enhanced Capabilities in Latin American cities (2019–2022) (GCRF grant: ES/T003294/1, PI João Porto de Albuquerque). The authors are grateful to the entire project team from the University of Glasgow, the University of Warwick, Institución Universitaria Colegio Mayor de Antioquia, the Universidad de Antioquia, the Universidade Federal de Rio de Janeiro, CEMADEN Brazil, the British Geological Survey and the Banco Comunitário do Preventório. The authors are also grateful to participants of the UK Alliance for Disaster Research 2022 conference for their feedback on a presentation of the preliminary results and to the anonymous peer reviewers for their comments.
Citation
Ulbrich, P., Leal Sobral, A.V., Rivera-Flórez, L.A., Rodríguez-Gaviria, E.M., Coaffee, J., Marchezini, V. and Porto de Albuquerque, J. (2023), "Assessing equity in disaster risk governance in Brazil and Colombia", Disaster Prevention and Management, Vol. 32 No. 4/5, pp. 461-476. https://doi.org/10.1108/DPM-06-2023-0142
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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