21st July meeting where team members from USA, UK, Ghana, Mauritius and Qatar get together to discuss and share knowledge on Disaster risk Governance in the UK, USA, Ghana, Mauritius, with primary focus on legislation, guidelines and governance mechanisms.

I am pleased to see great progress after just 3 months since we started this exciting progress. RE-ENERGIZE DR3 is a funded project (April 2020- March 2023) focusing on GOVERNANCE of DR3 and the role of stakeholders and social media to boost the SDGs agenda and support Sendai Framework.

Today another project meeting between team members from UCL (UK), UNC (USA), UoG (Ghana), UoM (Mauritius) and (Qatar) took place; where we shared knowledge and experience on Disasters (floods, heatwaves, droughts) governance. Presentations came from each team as follow: Elizabeth & Felix (from UNC, USA) provided an overview of governance approaches for pre- and post-disasters in USA for federal, state and local governance, covering evidence, how decision makers prioritise, legislation for response and budget allocated. Yaw and Ebenezer at UoG (Ghana) provided a diagnosis of DR3 in Ghana, on institutional organisation, interventions and evidence of impacts, policy measures. Manta from UoM talked about institutional framework in Mauritius, structure and policies. Catalina & Priscila (from UCL, UK) presented on the varities in governance in Europe, the role of communication, dissemination and mass media, and an assessment on legislation, guidelines and governance mechanisms in the UK.

Following the analysis and discussions, key findings have been drawn: In USA heat wave definition is inconsistent and flood data are split into riverine and coastal flooding. In the UK there is a lack of understanding of how the population discern risk by the authorities causes failures in flood risk management policies. Flood management plans should include risk perception as a key social component, lack of joint infrastructure resilience plans. In Ghana, in terms of resource allocation to vulnerable communities for addressing DR3 is woefully inadequate. This challenges efforts toward disaster response and preparedness especially in terms of the required capacity at all levels to champion a clear focus on disaster risk reduction and implement appropriate relief assistance. In Mauritius, the focus is primarily on flood management & construction /rehabilitation of drains; DRR at the level of an institution has been encouraged but not implemented

Stay tuned for more updates!