Risk management and response to natural disasters in Mayotte and Réunion
The aim of this research is to understand the perceptions and representations of ‘naturally occurring’ risks by different groups of stakeholders involved in managing these risks and in responding to disasters. The aim is to highlight the impact of these perceptions on risk reduction and management strategies in order to improve their effectiveness. The aim is to highlight the impact of these perceptions on risk reduction and management strategies in order to improve their effectiveness.
Context, humanitarian and social issues and challenges
While humanitarian and development actors recognise the importance of putting people at the centre, perceptions and representations of risk and their implications for risk management are still poorly understood in many contexts. However, understanding and taking into account these perceptions would enable local and national authorities and civil society organisations to have a more complete understanding of the risks, as well as the shortcomings of risk management strategies and emergency responses, and thus improve their communications and practices.
This research contributes to the call by international development and humanitarian actors to place national and local actors at the centre of development, risk management and emergency response strategies and actions.
It has three main objectives:
1) to understand perceptions of ‘natural’ risks and their impacts;
2) to situate the results of these observations within the academic debate on risk management, island territories and the international development and humanitarian system;
3) to improve risk management and emergency response by drawing conclusions from the data collected, both theoretically and for future risk management in practice.
How do the various actors involved in the management of ‘natural’ risks perceive these risks, their management and the response to disasters, and how do these perceptions affect risk management and emergency response?
Scope and methodology
Two case studies were carried out in Mayotte and La Réunion, two overseas territories exposed to seismo-volcanic and climatic risks. Interviews were conducted with key actors in risk management from the state system, scientific centres, the private sector and NGOs, including organisations from disadvantaged neighbourhoods. The arguments are based on the interviews and the scientific and grey literature, in particular the risk management and emergency response strategies of the various actors, as well as publicly available reports
The scientific interest of the research and for humanitarian and social actors
This research could be useful to a wide range of stakeholders involved in risk management, at all levels, in order to improve collaboration and co-construct a holistic and multi-scalar vision of risk management. These stakeholders include social players, associations and local authorities, the state system at municipal, departmental and national level, NGOs and the French Red Cross’s Indian Ocean Regional Response Platform (PIROI). More broadly, this research informs those involved in international development and humanitarian aid about the importance, content and impact of the perceptions of different stakeholders and enables them to adjust their approaches.
This research enriches risk management studies by placing stakeholders and their perceptions at the heart of the debate.
This research enriches risk management studies by placing stakeholders and their perceptions at the centre of the debate. However, this approach is difficult to implement and barriers need to be explored upstream through case studies at the local level. In a related vein, this project is helping to improve our knowledge of the multidimensional and nuanced impacts of seismo-volcanic and climatic risks. In particular, the increase in inequalities in island areas and the inclusion of isolated and/or poor populations remain issues that require further study. Studies on the complex dynamics specific to each territory are needed to move beyond a dichotomous vision of islands as paradises or victims of climate change. At a geographical level, this research contributes to the development of knowledge about the French overseas territories and, more generally, about the island territories of the Indian Ocean, which are particularly exposed to “natural” risks. These risks accentuate a number of pre-existing economic, political, social and migratory challenges in the region.
Biography
Morgane Rosier holds a PhD in International Development from the School of International Development and Globalisation at the University of Ottawa. Her research interests include international cooperation policy and practice, development and humanitarian action, and climate change, particularly in island settings. In February 2024, she defended her dissertation on aid effectiveness in Vanuatu, an island nation in the South Pacific. She recently co-authored and co-published « COVID-19 vaccine apartheid and the failure of global cooperation » with Stephen Brown (School of Political Studies, University of Ottawa) in the British Journal of Politics and International Relations (2023).