Ten key things about Rwanda’s new disaster risk reduction policy

The government of Rwanda aims to bolster its disaster resilience from the current 46%, to 60% by 2030, as disaster-related losses cost the country between $200 million and $300 million each year. The Minister of Emergency Management, Albert Murasira, announced the government's adoption of a new disaster risk reduction and management policy, on November 7, urging all stakeholders to integrate the policy's actions into their plans with the collective goal of building a resilient country. The new national new disaster risk reduction and management policy is expected to help achieve the target. Below are 10 things to know about the policy which will help reduce disaster related losses up to 2030. Challenges in disaster risk reduction and management The disaster risk reduction and management sector faces multiple issues and challenges which the policy will help address. These include ineffective rural and urban integrated planning, insufficient community-based disaster risk reduction and management, limited mainstreaming in the practice of disaster risk reduction and management across sectors, limited functional and operational capacity of some disaster management organs, limited coordination of disaster risk reduction and management specific interventions and limited knowledge on disaster risk reduction and management. 2.Early warning systems The new policy will be used to harmonize all interventions by partners and stakeholders and ensure that all Rwandans are covered by an effective early warning system by 2027. This is a major element of disaster risk reduction as it prevents loss of life and reduces the economic and material impact of disasters. ALSO READ: Rwanda to benefit from ‘flash flood early warning’ initiative for Central African region To be effective, the early warning system needs to involve the communities at risk, facilitate and ensure public education and awareness of risks, effectively disseminate messages and warnings and ensure there is constant state of preparedness for both men and women, with more focus on women constrained with unpaid care work. 3.National disaster risk financing strategy The lifespan of this policy is seven years aligned with the Sendai Framework for disaster risk reduction. Its implementation will require an estimated budget of Rwf40 billion for disaster risk reduction and management interventions coordination. The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction from 2015 to 2030 is the global blueprint to prevent new and reduce existing disaster risk. The national disaster risk financing strategy is expected to help the country explore new financing tools that can support not only risk reduction and response efforts but also recovery and resilience. 4.Enhancing research Rwanda’s disaster risk profile, climate change and weather variabilities call for an integrated national coordination framework and risk informed data generated through researches and assessments to build a disaster-resilient nation. This will be achieved by reviewing and updating the national risk atlas of Rwanda, promoting research and evidence generation on disaster risk reduction and management in higher learning and research institutions, enhancing the capacity of the public and private sectors, civil society, and research institutions to develop and utilize disaster-resilient technological innovations, assessing and monitoring regularly critical infrastructure to ensure safety standards and resilience. 5.Promoting use of indigenous knowledge The policy will also promote the use of traditional knowledge or indigenous in disaster risk reduction and management. The combination of indigenous and scientific knowledge helps to better manage local disasters and promote sustainable development. Local knowledge helps to perceive disaster risks and promote vulnerability management at the community level, therefore strengthening interaction between communities, scientists, and policymakers can help promote the adoption of indigenous knowledge and effective decision-making in disaster management. The role of indigenous knowledge and practices in disaster management in different regions promotes local sustainability, reflecting the unique local cultural values and indispensable disaster reduction value of indigenous knowledge. 6. Handling transboundary disasters Disasters do not have borders or restrictions. Rwanda shares its borders with four countries and having in place collaboration mechanisms with neighbouring countries will strengthen the management of transboundary disasters. To achieve this, the policy has set actions to be implemented. These include establishing joint surveillance mechanisms to collect, analysing and sharing data and information on potential disasters in the areas surrounding shared borders, developing, reviewing and testing required joint preparedness and response plans, establishing agreements on working mechanisms and exchanges on global and regional disaster risks. 7.Investing in resilience This policy pillar is centred on the planning and implementation of structural and non-structural measures at sector levels to reduce potential disaster risks and increase the resilience of at-risk populations. It also provides policy orientations on how to increase the national resilience, mainstreaming disaster risk reduction and management across development sectors, mitigating disaster risks (natural and man-made) and reduce underlying factors, integrating the disaster risk reduction and management in the national education system and putting in place disaster risk reduction and management financing mechanisms at national and local levels. 8.Integrating disaster risk management in education system The policy will also help integrate disaster risk reduction and management in the national education system. A knowledge-based society is the longer-term vision of the Government of Rwanda with the key entry point being formal education. To allow the country to have a knowledge-based population in disaster risk reduction and management, all education levels should integrate Disaster Risk Reduction and Management from the initial subjects of formal education. To achieve this, it is important to integrate disaster risk management into education programmes and promote awareness on disaster risk resilience and sustainability to education sector actors, the policy says. 9. Financing facility Public institutions are mainly depending on the recurrent budget to cope with disasters which is often not sufficient to afford the cost required to manage disaster risks. Funding mechanisms for disaster risk reduction and management at the national level should be based on a comprehensive mechanism that defines the process to access and channel the funds to implement disaster risk reduction and management activities. This will be achieved by establishing and operationalizing the national disaster risk reduction and management financing facility as well as mobilizing the Private Sector, NGOs, UN Agencies and Development Partners to contribute in disaster risk reduction and management financing. 10. Disaster emergency operation centre The policy will help strengthen disaster preparedness mechanism and ensure effective response and recovery interventions. ALSO READ: 49 people lose lives as Rwanda records 300 disaster cases in two months The government will operationalize a 24/7 disaster emergency operation centre to effectively coordinate disaster response operations, establish disaster risk reduction and management database with specific data and information on risk and impact of disasters.

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Ten key things about Rwanda’s new disaster risk reduction policy