Strength of local authorities in empowerment contexts

An important factor to be taken into account is the strength (in quantitative and qualitative terms) of the civil defence systems and of the local authorities. If/where these systems/authorities are weak, the public sector (and the international organisations working with it) is very much inclined to promote any people empowerment action, since an active commitment of the community is often indispensable in all the phases of the disaster/risk management. Community empowerment practices related to countries such as Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka or Vietnam testify to this state of affairs. The "vice-versa" is true only in few cases such as the already mentioned one in Czech Republic related to the regional floods in 2013 or the Delfland case-NL, characterized, sometimes, by a "paternalistic governance style" from public sector/disaster managers.

Note: See source document for full reference.

Cultural Factors: Power relations

Hazards: Natural hazards, Man-made non-intentional hazards or emergency situations, Man-made intentional hazards

Disaster Phases: All disaster phases, Prevention, Preparedness, Response, Recovery

Types of Actors Concerned: National civil protection body, Local authorities

Recommendations:

• Use new technologies, such as crowdsourcing to collect information from citizens, as a means to foster community engagement