Faith-based organisations and disaster management in informal urban Accra

Abstract

Disaster risks in African cities are compounding due to the triple convergence of climate change impacts, unplanned urbanisation, and entrenched socio-spatial inequities. Disaster events are, therefore, common with disproportionate impacts on informal residents yet resting within reactive and extremely limited disaster management regime that leaves behind many voids in disaster risk reduction. Drawing on a qualitative approach and situated in a disaster-vulnerable community of Dome, Greater Accra, this paper unpacks the activities of Faith-based Organisations (FBOs) in filling the voids in disaster preparedness, response, and recovery. This research is timely because elevating and integrating FBOs activities in disaster management could concretise multi-actor frameworks for disaster risk reduction that are culturally sensitive, locally situated, and socially engaged. The paper documents that experimenting with formal-informal collaborations in community-based risk reduction and leveraging the practices and experiences of FBOs in disaster risk reduction holds the potential for building disaster prevention and resilient capacities in informal urban riskscapes. The study recommends that active collaboration between FBOs and government organisations can assist in bridging crisis management gaps and improving community disaster resilience.