Mainstreaming disaster risk reduction in the social work curricular: The case of University of Botswana

This paper discusses the inclusion of disaster risk reduction in the curriculum of the University of Botswana. Botswana has in fact suffered great losses from natural disasters like drought, livestock/cattle diseases, heavy rains and floods, thunder and wind storms, health hazards (malaria, HIV & AIDS, vectors, and cholera), wild land fires, and environmental degradation.

The authors recommend the following (p. 12):

• Social work education must equip practitioners to undertake an analysis of hazards and determine the likely consequence for individuals, groups, and communities.
• There is need for mainstreaming disaster risk management to social work students so that they can be able to address disaster-related challenges when they are on the field.

This document is an input paper of the 2015 Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction.