Systemic problems of capacity development for disaster risk reduction in a complex, uncertain, dynamic, and ambiguous world
The community has been engaged in for decades, sometimes under different names or with a slightly different focus. So far, these efforts have failed to bring significant and sustainable change. The Sendai Framework for 2015–2030 specifies capacity development as the means to reduce disaster losses substantially. The purpose of this paper is to offer a better understanding of the reasons behind the poor results with capacity development for disaster risk reduction (DRR).
Twenty qualitative with high-level decision makers in the international community indicate systemic failure that requires a complete overhaul of the system. When analysing the discrepancies between principles for capacity development (ownership, partnership, contextualization, , learning, , long-term, and sustainability) and the actual performance of actors operating in a complex, dynamic, uncertain, and ambiguous , five interrelated emerge: (1) clashing principles; (2) quixotic control; (3) mindset lag; (4) lack of for change; and (5) power . Understanding and addressing these systemic problems is fundamental to the success of capacity development. It is not enough to blame the actors who implement capacity development activities for DRR, nor to merely rename it, yet again, after another few years of continuous .
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