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DRR Community Voices

The DRR Community Voices share personal stories and perspectives from the disaster risk reduction trenches on reducing risk and building resilience.

  • Our posts from both practitioners and academics reach a global audience and can influence policy, practices and approaches.
  • We invite you to propose your own blog and submit it for review.

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A tsunami evacuation sign stands beside a long, steep wooden staircase zigzagging up a sandy hill toward high ground. The route provides safe passage in Oregon’s tsunami-prone coastal zones.
Blog
Vaitsis Koutsipetsidis
Inclusive tsunami preparedness: Why the people most at risk must help shape the plan
On 5 November, take two actions: learn your route to high ground, and ask the people around you who might need assistance what support they would need and involve them in the planning. Don’t just identify them; co-plan with them.
A diorama depicting humanity's battle when the pandemic hits shogi.
Blog
Marta Poblet Balcell
What if disaster innovation stopped chasing impact?
The author argues that DRR innovators should avoid using “impact” to describe positive outcomes, as the term refers to disaster-related harm, and instead focus on solutions, effectiveness and measurable outcomes that prevent harm and protect communities.
Richelieu Valley, Quebec, Canada June 11, 2011: Volunteers cleanup outside of a suburban home follow catastrophic flooding
Blog
Valérie Vermeulen
Resilience starts at home but is built together: Lessons from Québec
As risks evolve and social, environmental, and technical systems grow more interconnected, disaster preparedness extends beyond emergency response. Resilience also depends on the capacities built within homes, neighborhoods, and everyday practices.
A family sits together in a traditional African village, embracing cultural heritage.
Blog
Rosemary Daniella Ihinegbu Henrietta Chigemezu Ihinegbu
Nigeria’s progress on inclusive disaster risk reduction under the Sendai Framework
Nigeria has built a real policy foundation for disaster risk reduction. But, the lived experience of women and children during the 2022 and 2024 floods shows that having policies on paper is not the same as protection reaching the people who need it most.
Hospital hallway with doctors, nurses and specialists in hospital. Female and male physicians, surgeons, healthcare officials walk together in corridor with their back to camera
Blog
Vaitsis Koutsipetsidis
Hospitals have disaster plans. So why don't staff read them?
Author finds Greek hospital staff lack access to and training on disaster plans. The article calls for regular practical drills, dedicated preparedness officers, hospital vulnerability assessments and measurable readiness to strengthen emergency response.
An aerial view shows the Rasuwagadhi flood affecting the lower part of the riverbank, hydropower substation, and many houses in Rasuwa, Nepal, on July 08, 2025.
Blog
Kshitiz Pokharel
Rethinking disaster reconstruction in Nepal: Building back for a changing climate
Repeated floods in Nepal’s mountain and hill regions made the author raise a fundamental question: should reconstruction simply restore what was lost, or should it address the changing risks that made those communities vulnerable in the first place? 
Chang Ghar (Raised plinth houses) in Assam
Blog
Manu Gupta
Resilience is about having more choices when risk arrives
This blog resilience means having more choices when risks arise. Strengthening livelihoods, empowering women and protecting ecosystems helps households build financial security, manage uncertainty and adapt to changing circumstances.
Houses were destroyed by the floods in Pakistan 2022.
Blog
Bapon Fakhruddin
From local resilience to systemic risk governance
This blog poses that local preparedness cannot compensate for development, infrastructure, and investment decisions that systematically create and redistribute disaster risk.