Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to highlight the importance of gender mainstreaming into disaster reduction decision making as a way of reducing disaster vulnerabilities of women, a highly vulnerable group to disasters. Design/methodology/approach -The paper builds a discussion around disaster reduction, the importance of gender mainstreaming in disaster reduction and the ways of mainstreaming gender based on a literature review. It reviews academic literature as well as papers and reports produced by the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UN/ISDR) and various other institutions. Findings -The paper highlights the importance of the role of gender mainstreaming in disaster reduction as a means of reducing disaster risk through considering women's needs and concerns in particular. Further, on the basis of the literature reviewed, the paper emphasises the need for enhancing gender balance in disaster reduction decision making in order to understand the possible effects of policies and measures developed for disaster reduction on gender roles. Practical implications -The paper paves the way forward to identify how gender mainstreaming could be achieved in the context of construction as construction has a significant relationship with development that could create or reduce disaster risk. Originality/value -The paper attempts to contribute to disaster reduction through emphasising the need for mainstreaming gender into the disaster reduction decision-making process and also towards reducing disaster vulnerabilities of women. In this context, the paper brings an insight into the necessity for mainstreaming gender in disaster reduction in construction.
The inability of organisations to adequately assess climate risk, understand and execute necessary actions contribute significantly to the increase in economic loss from disasters. This is a threat to business resilience and sustainability of the society. Hence, resilience capabilities of organisations need to be improved, and there should be a way of assessing these capabilities. This paper focuses on the methodology adopted and the maturity model produced by utilising Capability Maturity Model (CMM) concept to develop a capability maturity assessment method for built environment flood resilience of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs). Capability areas obtained from literature were refined and carefully mapped to maturity level characteristics obtained from studies on capability maturity, and a conceptual model was produced. The conceptual model was subsequently refined and validated via expert forum and case studies. The study produced a maturity model for assessing flood resilience capability maturity of businesses, and technically provides an outline of steps for improving flood resilience of business premises.
This study evaluated the build-back-better considerations in post-disaster recovery, following the devastation of Chipinge and Chimanimani communities by Cyclone Idai-induced floods in 2019. Conducted in 2020, the study assessed the impact of Cyclone Idai-induced floods on communities in Chipinge and Chimanimani Districts of Zimbabwe; evaluated the build-back-better considerations; and analyzed the lessons learned. Based on a qualitative approach and case study design, the study depended on focus group discussions, interviews, and researcher observations to gather data from 85 participants. The findings indicate that Cyclone Idai-induced floods seriously impacted human lives, infrastructure, and livelihoods of communities that had been living with flood risk and vulnerability. Build-back-better considerations were absent in much of the post-disaster recovery effort to address the cyclone disaster impact. There are important early lessons for both practitioners and community members to learn from the Cyclone Idai event. These lessons still can inform policy and disaster risk reduction practice in the medium and long term. Build-back-better should be a mandatory objective in the recovery from any disaster impact. Continuous training is also recommended to improve the disaster knowledge of stakeholders and increase local ability to cope with future disaster events.
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