Geoffrey Mushaija
Disasters due to hazards have devastating impacts on the development prospects of our communities.
Contemporarily, we are ‘reactive’ in our approach towards disasters with resources being spent on relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts. Building disaster resilient communities merits a focused attention to build their capabilities for disaster management.
Communities are susceptible to high vulnerability from multiple disasters emanating from expanding human and economic infrastructures.
Building disaster resilient communities in disaster prevention, mitigation and preparedness skills through awareness and effective training programmes is central in sustainable disaster management.
Empowering communities with knowledge and information within their own setting to build the culture of safety is essential.
However, in our approaches, the concept of building sustainable disaster resilient communities remains abstract yet linking disasters and communities’ is critical and needs apt recognition. Vulnerable communities need disaster education and their participation will build their resilience.
There is need to bring about a change in perception, attitude and mind-set of our communities about the way things must be approached today in the context of disaster risk management.
When a disaster strikes, communities suffer most of its adverse effects and our community activities cannot be sustained and viable unless risk reduction and mitigation measures are clearly spelt out in advance to them.
Inventing cost-effective technologies for hazard resistant housing, research in hazard prevention and mitigation, supporting and popularising traditional and indigenous disaster mitigation methods that are effective to support government initiatives is imperative.
We must reaffirm our commitment and resolve to achieve disaster resilient and safe communities. Building disaster resilient communities can be done through disaster education initiatives, policies, civil society engagements as well as the corporate social responsibility to bring synergic effects.
Building disaster resilient is achievable because our communities are conversant with their geographical and socio-economic settings and their participation is critical in achieving sustainable disaster management within their community.
Building a culture of safety and resilience at community level will be efficient and effective initiative because they already have indigenous knowledge of disaster management imbedded in their respective communities.
What is needed is their organisation and shaping communities to realise their potential and make them able to find solutions to their problems when they arise.
It is imperative to avail to the communities’ awareness and mobilisation materials for their children and homesteads like booklets, posters, note books, games, art crafts and poetry related to disaster prevention, mitigation and management.
Building disaster resilient communities will be fruitful if we bring up positive changes, making them safer, more empowered, and resilient with self-help capacities to respond confidently in disaster yet to come.
No effort must be spared and no constraint should be allowed to impede the progress towards creating a safe and disaster free and resilient communities in Rwanda.