This thesis investigates the uncertainties in disaster risk reduction (DRR) in Mozambique, a low- income country that regularly faces natural hazards that cause heavy loss of life and livelihoods. The thesis focuses on different sets of uncertainties and factors that have constrained or enabled Mozambique to progress in this policy area. The summary was presented during the seminar How to mitigate disasters: reducing risks, estimating needs and ensuring health system resilience.
Main findings
- Low and fluctuating capacity in the DRR subsystem, limited resources and disagreements on what DRR is, what aspects should be included and highlighted and who should be included in decision making, are alla aspects that have affected the policy progress.
- There have been some positive developments within DRR, but long-term interventions have been limited in scale and scope.
- The policy progress can be short-sighted and slow. This increases the disconnect between theory, policy and practice,
- Theory and practice should better take into account diverse issues such as power-relations, accountability and transparency across scales. There need to be focus on the inclusion, coordination and capacities, both and Mozambique and elsewhere.
Jenni Koivisto defended her dissertation Navigating in the Midst of Uncertainties – Challenges in Disaster Risk Governance in Mozambique, in October 2018, at the department of Environmental and Life Sciences at Karlstad University. Jenni works at the Department of Social and Cultural Sciences and The Centre for Societal Risk Research at Karlstad University. Her research revolve around issues of risk perception.