{"id":694718,"date":"2025-10-14T09:05:10","date_gmt":"2025-10-14T06:05:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-disaster-ready-are-african-countries-study-of-5-shows-some-progress-but-also-huge-gaps\/"},"modified":"2025-10-14T09:05:10","modified_gmt":"2025-10-14T06:05:10","slug":"how-disaster-ready-are-african-countries-study-of-5-shows-some-progress-but-also-huge-gaps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-disaster-ready-are-african-countries-study-of-5-shows-some-progress-but-also-huge-gaps\/","title":{"rendered":"How disaster-ready are African countries? Study of 5 shows some progress, but also huge gaps"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_85 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a3e00653ce12\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a3e00653ce12\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-disaster-ready-are-african-countries-study-of-5-shows-some-progress-but-also-huge-gaps\/#Whats_working\" >What&#8217;s working<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-disaster-ready-are-african-countries-study-of-5-shows-some-progress-but-also-huge-gaps\/#Where_gaps_remain\" >Where gaps remain<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-disaster-ready-are-african-countries-study-of-5-shows-some-progress-but-also-huge-gaps\/#Looking_ahead\" >Looking ahead<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"article-gallery lightGallery\">\n<div data-thumb=\"https:\/\/scx1.b-cdn.net\/csz\/news\/tmb\/2025\/africa-disaster.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/scx2.b-cdn.net\/gfx\/news\/hires\/2025\/africa-disaster.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Credit: Eslam Mohammed Abdelmaksoud from Pexels\">\n<figure class=\"article-img\">\n            <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/scx1.b-cdn.net\/csz\/news\/800a\/2025\/africa-disaster.jpg\" alt=\"Africa disaster\" title=\"Credit: Eslam Mohammed Abdelmaksoud from Pexels\" width=\"800\" height=\"530\"\/><figcaption class=\"text-darken text-low-up text-truncate-js text-truncate mt-3\">\n                Credit: Eslam Mohammed Abdelmaksoud from Pexels<br \/>\n            <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>When we hear the word &#8220;disaster&#8221; we often think of floods, droughts or earthquakes\u2014events caused by nature. But what really turns these events into disasters is how prepared we are to deal with them. A flood becomes a disaster when people do not have safe housing, early warnings or emergency support.<\/p>\n<p>In other words, disasters often show us what&#8217;s missing in our preparation. Yet, with climate extremes becoming more frequent and communities under growing pressure, countries do not have the luxury of time when it comes to disaster planning.<\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;ve been <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.daad-ghana.org\/en\/2025\/04\/16\/alumni-spotlight-dr-olasunkanmi-habeeb-okunola\/\" target=\"_blank\">researching<\/a> disaster risk governance for over a decade. I recently carried out a <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/collections.unu.edu\/view\/UNU:10341\" target=\"_blank\">study<\/a> on how five African countries are trying to reduce the impacts of disasters: Kenya, Nigeria, Egypt, Namibia and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).<\/p>\n<p>My study assessed how these countries are progressing toward the goals of a global agreement called the <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.undrr.org\/media\/16176\/download?startDownload=20250925\" target=\"_blank\">Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction<\/a>, launched by the United Nations in 2015.<\/p>\n<p>One of its main goals, <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/sustainabledevelopment.un.org\/frameworks\/sendaiframework\" target=\"_blank\">Priority 2<\/a>, focuses on improving how countries organize and act when it comes to disasters. That means having clear responsibilities, sound leadership and support for local communities.<\/p>\n<p>I reviewed more than 400 government policies, laws and reports to see what steps are being taken to keep people safe before, during and after disasters. I focused on five key areas\u2014clear rules, local action, inclusion, information sharing and linking disaster planning with development\u2014to see what&#8217;s working and where more progress is needed.<\/p>\n<p>I found that some of the countries I reviewed are making progress in getting ready for disasters, but some still face challenges like unclear responsibilities between different levels of government and weak coordination. These gaps matter because they can slow down help when disasters h<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>en and leave more people in danger.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Whats_working\"><\/span>What&#8217;s working<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>There are some encouraging developments. Kenya and Namibia have created national plans to guide disaster response and climate risks. These help clarify which ministries, agencies and levels of government do what and how action is better coordinated. In Kenya, counties are also showing strong local leadership, taking on more responsibility for disaster planning, coordination and community engagement, which helps bring solutions closer to people.<\/p>\n<p>Namibia has even set up local committees that involve communities in planning. In both countries, disaster work is starting to move beyond capital cities.<\/p>\n<p>Nigeria has also set up disaster agencies at different levels of government. While these do not always work perfectly together, they show a growing effort to act on multiple fronts. Civil society groups in Nigeria are also playing an important role, especially in areas where government support is limited.<\/p>\n<p>Egypt has started including disaster-related issues in its national development plans. In the DRC, international partnerships help support emergency response, especially in areas affected by conflict. These approaches show an increasing awareness of the need for better planning and support.<\/p>\n<p>Some of these countries are also improving how they share risk information. Kenya has tested early warning tools for floods, and Namibia has taken steps to involve communities in emergency planning. Both are trying to link disaster work with broader development goals.<\/p>\n<p>All are promising examples of the shift in attention from response to prevention, which was not as prominent before the Sendai Framework.<\/p>\n<div class=\"ads w-100 my-4 article-main__more bg-light p-3 border\" aria-hidden=\"true\">\n<p class=\"mb-3\">\n        Discover the latest in <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/sciencee\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"5\" title=\"Science\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">science<\/a>, tech, and space with over <strong>100,000 subscribers<\/strong> who rely on Phys.org for daily insights.<br \/>\n        Sign up for our <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/sciencex.com\/help\/newsletter\/\" target=\"_blank\">free newsletter<\/a> and get updates on breakthroughs,<br \/>\n        innovations, and research that matter\u2014<strong>daily or weekly<\/strong>.\n    <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Where_gaps_remain\"><\/span>Where gaps remain<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Even though awareness of disaster risks is growing, progress is still uneven. In many places, it&#8217;s not always clear who should do what before and after disasters. Responsibilities between national and local agencies sometimes overlap or aren&#8217;t well defined, which can lead to confusion or delays.<\/p>\n<p>Some countries still don&#8217;t have specific laws or systems in place to manage disasters, making it harder for different sectors to work together. In areas affected by conflict or long-term instability, local emergency services often depend on international support due to years of limited investment in domestic systems.<\/p>\n<p>Local disaster teams are also often stretched thin. They may not have enough staff, training or resources to do their work effectively. In some places, disaster systems are still in early stages or not working at all.<\/p>\n<p>My study found that local voices are often missing when important decisions are made. While there are some good examples of community involvement, many groups\u2014especially women, young people and residents of informal settlements\u2014are left out of disaster planning and recovery discussions.<\/p>\n<p>Getting access to useful risk information remains a major challenge. In many regions, data is not only scattered and outdated but also presented in ways that are too technical or unclear for the public to act on. Even where systems are improving, people still need accurate, timely updates in simple, trusted formats they can understand and use during emergencies.<\/p>\n<p>Finally, disaster risk is still mostly treated as a separate issue. Ideally, it should be part of decisions on housing, health, education and planning. But in practice, these areas often work in isolation. Disaster risks may be mentioned in policy documents, but are not yet shaping everyday decisions. For example, new housing is sometimes built in areas known for flooding, even though past warnings or risk reports advised against it.<\/p>\n<p>These challenges do not detract from the progress that has been made across the continent, but they do show that more effort is needed to build systems that are inclusive, coordinated and grounded in local realities.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Looking_ahead\"><\/span>Looking ahead<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>The framework runs until 2030, which gives governments just a few years to improve what is not working and invest in what is.<\/p>\n<p>As the world faces more climate-related and conflict-driven disasters, the lessons are clear: strong laws matter, but so does local leadership. Citizen participation must be meaningful. And disaster planning needs to be part of everyday decisions, not just emergency responses.<\/p>\n<p>To reduce the impact of future disasters in Africa, governance needs to be thought of not just as government action, but as a shared responsibility. One that includes communities, civil society and citizens. That is where real resilience begins.<\/p>\n<div class=\"d-inline-block text-medium mt-4\">\n<p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tProvided by<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tThe Conversation<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"icon_open\" href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<svg>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<use href=\"https:\/\/phys.b-cdn.net\/tmpl\/v6\/img\/svg\/sprite.svg#icon_open\" x=\"0\" y=\"0\"\/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/svg><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p class=\"article-main__note mt-4\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t  This article is republished from <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\" target=\"_blank\">The Conversation<\/a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/how-disaster-ready-are-african-countries-study-of-5-shows-some-progress-but-also-huge-gaps-267021\" target=\"_blank\">original article<\/a>.<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/counter.theconversation.com\/content\/267021\/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-advanced\" alt=\"The Conversation\" width=\"1\" height=\"1\"\/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<!-- print only --><\/p>\n<div class=\"d-none d-print-block\">\n<p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<strong>Citation<\/strong>:<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tHow disaster-ready are African countries? Study of 5 shows some progress, but also huge gaps (2025, October 13)<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tretrieved 14 October 2025<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tfrom https:\/\/phys.org\/<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">news<\/a>\/2025-10-disaster-ready-african-countries-huge.html\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><script id=\"facebook-jssdk\" async=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/sdk.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMN63nwsw68G3Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more Like this articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/sciencee\/\" target=\"_blank\" >Science category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2025-10-disaster-ready-african-countries-huge.html\" target=\"_blank\" >Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Credit: Eslam Mohammed Abdelmaksoud from Pexels When we hear the word &#8220;disaster&#8221; we often think of floods, droughts or earthquakes\u2014events caused by nature. But what really turns these events into disasters is how prepared we are to deal with them. A flood becomes a disaster when people do not have safe housing, early warnings or&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":694719,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/scx2.b-cdn.net\/gfx\/news\/hires\/2025\/africa-disaster.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-694718","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sciencee"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/694718","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=694718"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/694718\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/694719"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=694718"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=694718"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=694718"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}