Disaster Risk Reduction through Education in Haiti

1. 1
An investigation into approaches of
Disaster Risk Reduction through education
in Haiti.
Eicher, C
H aiti A wareness D isaster
M illennium
Risk
Reduction
K nowledge
Development
Goals
(DRR)
S chool
E ducation C ommunity
P revention
Safety
for
sustainable
development
Y G ood
outh
Participation
Practices W arning
T raining
Systems
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2. 2
Abstract
The aim of this research is to investigate Disaster Risk Reduction approaches
through education in Haiti. The approach through which this was fulfilled involved a
literature review that identified historical and current perspective on Disaster Risk
Reduction (DRR) through education. Issues in regards to the incorporation of DRR
through the various form of education were identified, helping to gain a better
understanding of the current trends. This investigation was achieved through the use
of qualitative and quantitative data. Also to analyse bias and patterns, primary
research was based upon semi-structured interviews in order to gather information
from bilateral and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) who were involved in
humanitarian response and DRR in Haiti.
The findings highlighted that education in all walks of life encouraged self-awareness
and empowerment to a certain extent. However some gaps have been identified in
regards to the incorporation of DRR into informal education. The lack of awareness
from many stakeholders regarding the use of indigenous knowledge within DRR
affected the efficiency of approaches at school. Furthermore lack of governance and
commitment also had a negative impact on programs and policies. Additionally the
findings revealed that there was a gap between both policy makers and practitioners
in regards to the choice and use of frameworks.
Although this research has proved true to the aim and objectives, further areas of
studies could not be investigated completely as a result of not being able to interview
local stakeholders among the Haitian community. Further research would have
uncovered the full extent of the topic. The aim of this research was original, as no
research into DRR approaches through education in Haiti had been carried out prior
to the study. As a result, recommendations were made for policy makers and
practitioners, which were to enhance the incorporation and effectiveness of DRR
through education in Haiti education system.
Key words: Disaster Risk Reduction, Development, Education, risk awareness,
Capacity building
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Author’s declaration
“I declare that this thesis is entirely my own work and that where I have used the
work of others it has been appropriately acknowledged. I also confirm that the project
has been conducted in compliance with the University’s research ethics policy and
that the information supplied with the original research proposal corresponds with the
work actually conducted for the project.”
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Acknowledgement
I would like to extend my full gratitude for the support that has been given to me in order to
complete this research study. It is the thought and effort that really amazed me. I would like
to thank each one of you who contributed to this research.
I would like to acknowledge and thank the following organisations for their kindness and
contribution:
 The Earthquake Disaster Mitigation Research Centre
 Kyoto University
 Practical Action
 Italian platform for Disaster Risk reduction
 UNISDR
Many thanks to my supervisor Martin Nthakomwa who taught me valuable skills for this
project but also for the future. Thank you for your support and guidance. Your kindness
really has touched my heart.
I would also like to thank my dearest friends whom cherish; I would not be where I am now if
I did not have them.
Julian Carter who unconsciously guided me for the past four years. Thank you for your
support and guidance. Life is great and always will be.
Dr Marion MacLellan who has been an amazing lecturer during my last two years at
university. You made me travel in my mind but also unconsciously challenged me to figure
out new perspectives regarding humanitarian assistance. Thank you for sharing your
enthusiasm and thoughts.
Dr Eleanor Parker who has been more than patient with my ‘daily visits.’ Thank you for your
support and guidance.
Nicholai Tunstall who kindly accepted proof reading my work. Thank you ever so much for
your outstanding help.
Mirdza Mara Abele who is like a sister to me and supported me through all walks of life until
now. I am honoured to have met you three years ago and it has been an immense pleasure
to have shared unbelievable adventures with you.
My family who was extremely supportive and comprehensive. There are not enough words
to thank you. I love you.
Finally I would also like to thank you for reading this piece of writing and I hope you will find it
enjoyable and educative.
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Table of Contents
Abstract .................................................................................................................................................. 2
Author’s declaration ............................................................................................................................. 3
Acknowledgement ................................................................................................................................ 4
List of acronyms ................................................................................................................................... 7
List of figures ......................................................................................................................................... 8
Chapter one: Introduction ................................................................................................................... 9
1.1 Role of education in disaster risk reduction: ................................................................ 9
1.2 Aims and Objectives: .......................................................................................................... 11
Chapter two: Literature review ......................................................................................................... 12
2.1 Concepts of education ........................................................................................................ 12
2.2 Disaster Risk Reduction through education .................................................................... 14
2.3 Disaster Education in emergency ..................................................................................... 18
2.4 Hyogo Framework for Action ............................................................................................. 20
Chapter three: Methodology ............................................................................................................. 23
3.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 23
3.2 Research methodologies .................................................................................................... 23
3.3 Literature Review ................................................................................................................. 25
3.4 Primary Data Collection Methodology .............................................................................. 27
3.4.1 Structured Interviews ....................................................................................................... 27
3.5 Sampling techniques ............................................................................................................... 30
3.6 Ethical considerations ......................................................................................................... 31
3.7 Limitations and scope of the Research ............................................................................ 32
3.7.1 Language barriers ............................................................................................................ 32
3.7.2 Reliability ........................................................................................................................... 32
3.7.3 Objectivity .......................................................................................................................... 33
3.7.4 Time and resources ......................................................................................................... 33
3.8 Research analysis. .............................................................................................................. 33
3.9 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................ 34
Chapter four: Results and Discussion ............................................................................................. 35
4.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 35
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4.2 Discussion and Analysis of Research Findings .............................................................. 35
4.3 DRR within Education systems ......................................................................................... 35
4.4 Role of Education in DRR .................................................................................................. 36
4.4.1 Interview results on the role of education in Disaster Risk Reduction in Haiti ........ 37
4.4.2 Impact of Disaster Risk Reduction within Haitian Education ..................................... 39
4.4.3 Disaster Risk Reduction Education and Indigenous Knowledge .............................. 40
4.5 Importance of Disaster Risk Reduction incorporation in indigenous Education
policies and programs ............................................................................................................... 41
4.5.1 Lack of incorporation of Disaster Risk Reduction in Indigenous Education ............ 43
4.5.2 Suggestions of Indigenous Knowledge incorporation................................................. 44
4.5.3 Current informal education incorporation approaches ............................................... 45
4.6 Disaster Risk Reduction and the education system ....................................................... 46
4.6.1 Risk awareness in formal education ............................................................................. 47
.
4.6.2 Disaster Risk Reduction through informal education .................................................. 48
4.7 Disaster Risk Reduction Frameworks and education .................................................... 52
4.8 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................ 55
Chapter 5: Conclusion and Recommendations ............................................................................. 57
5.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 57
5.2 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................ 57
5.3 Limitations ............................................................................................................................. 59
5.4 Recommendations .............................................................................................................. 60
.
5.5 Closing statement ................................................................................................................ 60
Appendices ......................................................................................................................................... 62
.
Appendix 1: Covering letter ...................................................................................................... 62
Appendix 2: Consent Form ....................................................................................................... 64
Appendix 3: Interview Guide .................................................................................................... 66
.
References .......................................................................................................................................... 67
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List of acronyms
DRR: Disaster Risk Reduction
ESE: Earthquake Safety Education
HDI: Human Development Index
HFA: Hyogo Framework for Action
IDNDR: International Decade of Natural Disaster Reduction
IIEP: International Institute for Educational Planning
IIES: International Institute of Earthquake Engineering and Seismology
INEE: Inter-Agency Network for Education in Emergencies
NGO: Non- Governmental Organisation
UNDP: United Nations Development Program
UNESCO: United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation
UNICEF: United Nations Children’s Fund
UNISDR: United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction
WSSD: World Summit on Sustainable Development
WCDR: World Conference on Disaster Reduction
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List of figures
2.1 Concept of Disaster Risk Reduction through Education (Yukiko 2011)
2.2 Disaster Risk Reduction Education Linkage in a Family to the Community
(UNISDR 2010)
3.1 Triangulation of data (Watershedplanning 2012)
4.1 Results of Role of Education in DRR from practitioners
4.2 Practitioners View on incorporation of DRR in Informal Education
4.3 Practitioners response on Programs/Policies with or without informal
education incorporation
4.4 Results of identification of disaster education through formal and informal
education system in Haiti
4.5 Practitioners and Policy makers Views on the Town watching approach
4.6 Framework of the Regional Watching: Understanding the River Basin
(Interviewee A)
4.7 Interviewees choice of framework to implement DRR through education in
Haiti
4.8 Success rates of HFA and other frameworks at a local and national level in
Haiti
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Chapter one: Introduction
1.1 Role of education in disaster risk reduction:
‘Education is the foundation of knowledge that creates a link between
school and community. It is one of the key components of a society,
without it, sustainability and development would not be able to be
implemented.’ (UNISDR 2006)
Since the International Decade of Natural Disaster Reduction (IDNDR) which
occurred in 1990, discernable efforts appeared in many countries and several
educational tools for schools and the public have emerged. Education for risk
reduction has become more significant. Smith (1996) advised that programmes
should be created in a sustainable manner in order to support target groups with
procuration of knowledge, attitudes and skills that are mandatory to figure out actual
and local problems. It has also been recognised that education holds an essential
role in reducing disasters and allowing sustainable development. In fact, The Hyogo
Framework for Action (HFA) in 2005-2015, priority action 3, strongly highlights the
role of “knowledge in Education” and accented formal and non-formal education as
main components for Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR). After the avocation of HFA
“Disaster, reduction, Education and Youth” became the UN world disaster reduction
campaign in 2000 (UN/ISDR 2006).
Prior studies have shown promising results regarding education in disaster risk
management. Pupils who have been taught about the impacts of disasters and how
to respond to them have shown to be capable of coping directly and properly. By
those means they can warn others such as their families and also take care of
themselves during emergencies. One example is when a 10 year old British school
girl, Tilly Smith, managed to warn the people on the beach of Pucket in Thailand,
before the tsunami engulfed the coast, which saved the life of about 100 tourists in
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2004. She had studied geography at school just the week before coming to Pucket
and recognised the signs of an upcoming tsunami. This is another example of how
knowledge for children can act as communicators of risk, which helped save the lives
of thousands (Gibbs 2002). Children have been taught about health, water and
sanitation risks and communicate that information onto their parents and also to the
community.
In addition there is a case of indigenous knowledge that needs to be mentioned.
Knowledge is also transferred from generations to generations, which can reduce the
impact of a natural hazard onto a community. During the 2004 Tsunami, only seven
people were killed of a population of 83,000 on the Simeuleu Island off the coast of
Indonesia, situated only 100km away from the epicentre of the devastating
earthquake that resulted in a calamitous event. Since 1907 after experiencing a
tsunami, the knowledge of warning signs had been passed on to generation via
cultural practices as songs and poems (Kunreuther 2010). The simple knowledge of
‘if you see the ocean receding after an earthquake, leave the coast as quickly as
possible‘ was efficiently used and saved many lives. This is only one of the few
examples depicting how formal and informal education had assisted in bringing up
awareness amongst people thereby avoiding the loss of lives within their community.
In this context, this paper is a modest attempt of understanding how DRR is
important for resilient countries and also looking at DRR approaches in Haitian
education. The first chapter will be divided into three parts: first of all it will provide a
summary of formal and informal education; secondly it will look at the Hyogo
Framework and will try to understand why Disaster Risk Reduction is one of the main
components for sustainability and development. Finally the aims and objectives will
be set in order to implement the research of the investigation of DRR approaches
into Haitian education. The second chapter will provide a broad overview of the
literature from research done concerning education around the world in order to gain
a better understanding of how DRR could be used in the Haitian education. The
third chapter will review the research methodology used to gather the data needed
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for answering the aims and objectives of this paper. Finally an analysis of the
findings will be implemented in order to answer the question of this paper.
1.2 Aims and Objectives:
This paper aims to gather information and relevant data on disaster risk reduction
education in order to understand its important role in sustainable development at the
present time and also why it is the way to a better future in developing countries
such as Haiti. The analysis of this data will attempt to gain understanding of why
DRR has never been implemented in Haitian education before and also formulate
potential recommendations for the implementation of DRR in Haitian Education.
This research has many objectives, stated below:
 Explore the history and role of disaster risk reduction through education.
 Evaluate the impact and range of disaster risk reduction approaches within
education in Haiti.
 Analyse the roles played by stakeholders in disaster risk reduction through
education in Haiti.
 Make recommendations for disaster practitioners and policy makers in Haiti.
In order to achieve the aim and objectives, the research will need to use both
primary and secondary data to provide a stable ground for collecting, gathering data
and discussing the findings. Thereby discussing the concepts of education in risk
reduction would be suitable in order to gain a better understanding and overview of
international issues that will be raised in chapter two: Literature Review.
This chapter aims to provide a broad-spectrum overview of the available range of
literature from research relating to education, the role and integration of Disaster
Risk Reduction into the diverse forms of education. This discussion will also engage
a range of case studies from various countries around the world. However, in order
to give justice to this discussion, it would be important to explore some of the key
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issues regarding the concept of education. Education has been categorised into
three types, formal, non-formal and informal (Coombs 1974).
Chapter two: Literature review
2.1 Concepts of education
As explained above, there are three forms of education, which is also reflected
formerly. Coombs (1974) has described formal education as “institutionalised,
chronologically graded and hierarchically structured educational system,” from
primary school to the university. UNESCO (1997) agrees with this definition and
advances this proposition further by stating that formal education generates a full
time continuum education for children and young individuals, commonly starting from
the age of five to seven and carries on up to twenty or twenty five years old by
leading to certification.
Furthermore, in a report from UNESCO (1997) it was identified that another type of
education exists that of the Non-formal. The Non-formal education is any educative
activities implemented outside the formal structure. It does not have to follow the
“ladder” structure and the duration period can vary. However according to Riskred
(2011) this mode of education is not provided by official bodies, thus cannot lead to
official recognition.
The third type of education is the informal nature. This relates to education that is a
process implemented over a life time (Norland 2005). Explaining this further,
Norland (2005) explained that informal education is one whereby people gain and
hoard skills, knowledge, and attitudes from every day experiences and exposure to
the surroundings.
La Belle (1981) observed that the main disparity between formal and non-formal
education, is the control of the government on the support provided. In addition to
this, Norland (2005) indicated that the main problem is that non-formal and informal
educations are viewed as separate issues. Thus it has been argued that informal
education which includes the indigenous perspective and knowledge has not been
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adequately taken into everyday functioning of societies. In reality, studies have
shown that formal, non-formal and informal education might exist concurrently,
occasionally in concert with each other. For instance, school supplies formal
education and meanwhile promotes non-formal education all the way through
additional course activities (see figure 2.1).
Figure 2.1 Concept of Disaster Risk Reduction through Education
(Yukiko 2011)
Moreover, through people’s lives they get into contact with these various forms of
education. For example, juvenile children before school are betrothed primarily in
the informal mode. Consequently, Lidstone (1999) highlighted that when children
enter school; they start to obtain formal education. Perhaps as pointed out by the
report from the IIES (2006) there is contribution of non-formal education in school
such as additional activities within modules or out of school by using radio, television
and or community activities.
Smyth (1996: 27-35) mentioned that education should be viewed as an unremitted
learning experience for everyone the whole time. Furthermore the INEE report
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(2011) affirms that childhood is the most important phase to retain essential
memories in a person’s life and it is when an individual’s personality forms. Most
adults maintain and instinctively use information originating from experiences at the
first stages of their lives. Thus, Talero (2004) argued that education should not be
offered to children just for the sake of it but rather by comprehending the natural
surroundings. For instance, school perhaps should involve more local knowledge as
part of their modules such as teaching local geography and hazards.
From these case studies it has been seen the influence of premature education has
on a person, and also seems to suggest that education should be treated as an
incessant and progressive method.
For the past decades, studies have shown that there is growing facts that scholar of
all ages can dynamically learn and partake in school safety measures, and also with
adults toward reducing risk prior, throughout and following disastrous events
(UNICEF 2011). Thus gaining a better understanding of the three modes of
education, their roles and corresponding outcomes were significantly needed. The
following section will discuss the integration of disaster risk reduction into the diverse
forms of education.
2.2 Disaster Risk Reduction through education
Schools are believed to increase awareness amongst students, teachers as well as
the community itself. Petale (2008) stated that the incorporation of formal risk
reduction core curriculum in the courses or modules might be an interesting idea in
terms of attaining the integration of DRR.
Although Petale (2009) advances the argument that conformist education is mostly
reliant on classroom lectures, manuals and exercises. Researchers have revealed
that the appliance of risk reduction in education is more flourishing through action-
oriented and experience based (Solomon 2003: 219-233). It is also argued that
Disaster Risk Reduction should supply to heave an understanding of environmental
and natural circumstances and the individual activities that direct to disaster (Resnick
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1987: 10-13). It should also stimulate alterations in group behaviour and individual;
encourage expectation of social policy as well as raising advocacy to reduce threats.
Furthermore, it was accentuated that DRR through education should not be solely
teaching campaigns for risk awareness and natural hazards (UNISDR 2006).
However the European Commission (2007) acknowledged that it should support
people to discover their own solution and their own power.
Indeed, prior efforts in risk reduction education were centred on natural hazards
such as teaching about floods, earthquake, tsunami and volcanoes that occurred in
different places, to different people and at different times (Lidstone et al 1999).
Nevertheless a study from the World Bank stated that regardless of finding much to
congratulate the resources available on disaster risk reduction education. Students
behaviours are unlikely to change (2008). Furthermore, Cabasal (2010) disputes
that despite of the current prominence on the physical nature of possible disastrous
events, schools should think about concentrating on the students getting involved in
the disaster climate. Geography should be encouraged as part of education thus
promoting the students’ involvement in regards to the place they live and discovering
the physical dynamism of their environment.
A research from Kyoto university has shown that although teaching approaches are
dependent on the work done by academicians, learning approaches is mostly based
on what people identify from the environment or local knowledge (Sharma 2008).
Therefore Dixit (2004) claimed that the learning approaches motivate the learning
process that is under the influence of the local environment and exacerbates the
learning process through stories, cultural approaches and facts. Additionally, Radu
(1993: 15-33) responded to this claim by revealing that the local knowledge
universally known as indigenous knowledge has been developed over many
generations in the local community and is assessed in the local climate and thus is
perceived to enable them to sustain for decades.
In addition to this, an investigation of school practices in New Zealand has been
conveyed. It revealed that although students who were provided with disaster risk
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reduction education showed an increase in risk awareness, their ability to identify
and respond satisfactorily to disaster were fragile (Ronan et al 2001).
Furthermore, another investigation on school disaster education in Nepal exposed
that lectures on disaster risk education can raise risk awareness (Shiwaku 2007).
However, Niu et al (2010: 153-162) insist that it cannot allow students to gain an
understanding of the importance of pre-disaster measures and also to take on
intervention strategies to reduce disaster risk. Shiwaku (2007) also supported that
community can play a decisive role in encouraging students’ activities for DRR.
A comparative study of different modes of education on risk preparedness amongst
school in Japan was carried out. Results reveals that when 70% of the students who
have been provided with education on disaster and 80% have gained an
understanding of risk related issues, around 30% only worked out preparedness
measures, advising that formal education does not always translate into expected
actions (Pandey 2005: 52).
Alternatively, community and family have more direct influence on teaching disaster
preparedness. The same investigation found out that disaster risk reduction
education combined with family and community education, can promote students
with a ‘culture of disaster preparedness’ within their communities (see figure 2.2).
Moreover Vaughan et al (2003: 12) supports those results by arguing that DRR
through education should encourage non-formal activities to help take on actions
rather than knowledge.
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Figure 2.2 Disaster Risk Reduction Education Linkage in a Family to the Community (UNISDR
2010)
Paton (2001) promoted social psychological factors and community to be involved in
risk reduction education thus improving the relationship between risk reduction
behaviour and risk perception. However UNESCO (2008) also suggested that
disaster education should be included within community development to strengthen
resilience and encourage self-help in order to alleviate dependency on external
response and resources to recover. Pandey (2005: 26) expressed the critical role of
educating community by disseminating exercises in disaster risk reduction
supervision at the local stage and also formulating sustainable programs. By doing
this, it can help sustain the individual’s capacity and the community to adapt to
changes that could occur.
An example is given by Yoshida (2007) about a school in Indonesia which proposed
to integrate the activity ‘town-watching’ within its core curriculum. This activity was
performed by the students and teachers in order for the students to identify issues as
a group and come up with solutions collectively. Although this participatory technique
is good practice, Ronan (2001) highlighted that the lack of regular monitoring and
evaluation decreased the positive outcomes. It could have helped people coping with
disaster and security for example by identifying secure and insecure areas as well as
roads to evacuate.
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A successful example of disaster education programme is the Earthquake Safety
Education (ESE) program running in Iran. The ESE combines simultaneously, both
formal and informal education activities. The Human Development Index (HDI)
(2001) revealed that Iran is located close to the faults and has high risks of seismic
hazards and has suffered from critical earthquakes for the past decades resulting in
economic losses. In response to this, the government has initiated the program
‘Earthquake Safety Initiatives,’ ‘School Safety Act’ and the ‘Earthquake Safety
Education in School’ (International Institute of Earthquake Engineering and
Seismology (IIEES), 2006). The Earthquake Safety Education program is conveyed
by the Iranian ministry of education as well as public and civic organisations. Petale
(2008) emphasised this disaster education programme by adding that disaster
course are incorporated within geography, science, literature and other subjects with
preparedness, practice books and teachers are provided with handbooks for each
grades. UNICEF (2011) responded to this argument by pointing out that providing
sufficient material and resource enhance the chances of transmitting knowledge and
sharing it with individuals outside of the educational institution. UNISDR (2010)
claims that each year, the Iranian Ministry of Education and the IIEES as well as the
National television and radio and other correlated NGOs arrange safety drills. Smyth
(1996) agrees and expresses that “Safety Council” engaging parents and teachers
supply a structure of disaster risk reduction at the community level.
Although education prepare students in case of a disaster, education in emergency
and development is also important. Today, millions of children are underprivileged of
education around the world in countries where conflict or natural disaster occurs
(UNDP 2011). Thus, the following section will discuss the importance of disaster
education in emergency and where it currently stands.
2.3 Disaster Education in emergency
The World Education Forum, held in 2000 in Dakar, promised to “meet the need of
education systems affected by conflicts, natural calamities and instability.” Also
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countries to make efforts toward the target of Education for All and a session on
“Education in situations of emergency and crisis” was conveyed (Sinclair 2002).
Sinclair implies that emergency education should be used as a community based
approach with a prominence on teachers training and capacity building.
Furthermore, Wymer (1991: 53) argues that emergency education should also
develop programme of study that enhances life skills as well as long-term
development of people and the society.
UNESCO (2008) delineates “educational emergency” as a crisis situation generated
by disasters or conflicts that have subverted, dislocated, or obliterated the education
system. In response to this statement, Riskred (2011) adds that educational
emergency results in the requirements of assimilated process of crisis and post crisis
inputs. Additionally Riskred (2011) also acknowledged the importance of
distinguishing the magnitude of certified education permanence following disasters.
In order to endorse education in emergency response and long term recovery.
As stated by Cadri (2010), education can save and maintain lives. Also,
psychological and, physical protection can be provided as well as giving hope to
people for the unforeseeable future. Collins (2009: 205) affirmed this argument by
adding that education can also supply a channel to endorse safety.
Studies from the World Bank (2010) have shown that it is much cheaper to prevent
than to respond. In fact, it can be illustrated by the case of Haiti, if just a fraction of
the millions raised to rebuild the country would have been invested in disaster
preparedness, the people would have been prepared and thousands of lives would
have been saved from the disastrous event (UNESCO 2010).
In order to improve and endorse education in emergencies and reconstruction, a
“Guidebook for Planning Education in Emergencies and Reconstruction” was created
by the International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP). The IIEP (2011) asserts
that the main objective of it was to provide additional support to staff of ministries of
education and also national and local staff. For instance, the section 2 of the
guidebook advocated that non-formal education could use radio programs and
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temporary shelters due to limited access to resources in order to provide emergency
education to children and adults. Nevertheless, Wisner (2006) disputed the section 2
of the guidebook, as everyone is not entitled to use it because of the lack of
certifications and skills. Preventionweb (2009) agreed by stating that people using
the book should have significant training. Therefore to make sure that the magnitude
of education has a centre of attention on the needs and apprehensions of the
students consistently and at every time.
Although approaches and measures have been implemented to reduce risk in
emergencies, disaster education is regarded as an ongoing and sustainable process
(UNISDR 2010). In order to do justice to this statement, the following section will
discuss the effectiveness of the Hyogo Framework for Action.
2.4 Hyogo Framework for Action
The Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA) has been implemented following the World
Conference on Disaster Reduction (WCDR) in 2005. This framework is assisted by
the Hyogo declaration that has been signed and agreed by 168 members of states at
the WCDR. In addition to this, the HFA has been a leading tool for disaster
reduction for the following ten years. Since it was adopted, it has been used by
national governments, international organisations but also civil societies and
academic circles.
A range of case studies from the World Bank (2010) have shown that the HFA has to
be practical in directing the global effort toward disaster risk reduction. Additionally,
Collins (2009:227) advanced that the HFA has helped in creating an articulation
within approaches and tied them together. Without a doubt, most of the national
measures have been structured according to the five priorities. Although SOPAC
(2009) affirms that the HFA was gradually utilised to structure risk reduction
schemes, organisations have had a tendency to generalize the framework. Therefore
there has been a will to include all priorities into one. Furthermore, Sharma (2009)
stated that the activities within the HFA priorities do not always reflect a satisfactory
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comprehension of the implication of those priorities, predominantly in the case of the
HFA Priority for Action 3. For instance, according to Preventionweb (2011) in the
priority 3, “Information, Education and Communication (IEC)” plans were shaped to
improve community awareness. However Sharma (2009) argues that there is little or
nothing on how to improve awareness. As a result, this is a tendency that occurs
frequently at the national, regional and international levels.
UNISDR (2005) claims that the HFA enhances the significance of “Knowledge and
Education.” Also during the 12th United Nations International Strategies for Disaster
Reduction (UNISDR) meeting, the various parties understood that a cluster approach
would be more efficient. Indeed, the European Commission (2007) agreed with this
statement by asserting that both UN agencies and international NGOs’ attempts and
accomplishments on the issue should be combined.
As mentioned in the HFA priority 3, education may perhaps provide the people with
disaster knowledge. However it is lacking to increase preparedness or stimulate the
person to implement DRR activities. The African Union Commission (2009) explains
that the combination of formal, non-formal and informal education enhance DRR
within community. Moreover Clerveaux (2009) adds that this combination of forms of
education encourage individual and community to develop awareness and
preparedness. It was also mentioned that the reflection and preparation of disaster
education ought to be restricted to education on ordinary days. Thus, research from
UNISDR (2007) concluded that education in emergency situations should be
incorporated as well in order to provide a sustainable education.
Finally, in regards to sustainable education, the Agenda 21 (1991) chapter 36
declared that “education is critical for promoting sustainable development and in
providing the capacity of the people to address environmental and developmental
issues.” This statement was also enhanced at the World Summit on Sustainable
Development (WSSD 2002). Undoubtedly, one can reasonably bring to a close that
education significantly participates in improving DRR knowledge, consciousness and
encourage sustainable development.
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In conclusion this chapter discussed a range of literature from research related to
education. Additionally, past and existing issues associated to disaster education
have been raised. Furthermore, those issues have been critically discussed thus to
gain a better understanding of the current trends. Therefore, it will enable the
investigation and analysis of approaches of DRR through education in Haiti. In order
to do so, various methods have been implemented, to gather explicit information
correlated to the topic of investigation and will be discussed in chapter 3.
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Chapter three: Methodology
3.1 Introduction
This chapter aims to critically analyse research methods paradigms to identify which
are the most suitable of the research and enhance the completion of the aim and
objectives. The methodology will describe and critically analyse existing methods as
well as providing rationalisation of the methods which have been chosen in order to
incorporate information in regards to investigate DRR approaches through education
in Haiti. It will then continue by identifying and providing the rationale for the methods
that were used to gather the primary and secondary data needed. Additionally it will
explain how the data was analysed in order to accomplish the aim and objectives of
the research.
3.2 Research methodologies
Throughout analysis of research methods, it was found that “Research is an act with
an objective” (Higgins 1996). Indeed, this research project is an act with a general
objective to analyse the scope of which disaster risk reduction approaches are
effective through education in Haiti. This statement argues that it is the “act” that is
carried out to accomplish the objectives that cover the general research
methodology approach. In fact, without research methods that reproduce the
project’s aim, the objectives may not be fulfilled and the research considered
inappropriate to the project (Haralambos et al 2004).
It has been argued that research is primarily either qualitative or quantitative and
required primary and secondary research (Jonhson and Onwuegbuzie 2004). It has
further been argued that research paradigms contain various ranges of complex
research techniques that can be utilised independently or merged together (Moore
2000).
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Additionally Jupp (2006:248) stated that primary research includes producing new
information that will attempt to answer the question from the research project. In fact,
Curwin (2004: 285) stated that primary research should produce up-to-date data. In
contrast, secondary research involves the processing and interpretation of existing
data from academic work (Jupp 2006: 474). Although the use of data already
collected saves time and could however not be up-to-date (Curwin 2004: 285).
Therefore the use of both primary and secondary research was deemed appropriate
for the purpose of this research.
In regards to qualitative and quantitative research, Higgins (1996) states that both
are located at the end of the sociological research methodology spectrum.
Quantitative research has its roots in natural science paradigm thus resulting in
mainly numerical and statistical data. Quantitative methods are also known to be
closely linked to positivism and the belief that data should only be gathered if it can
be impartially examined and categorised. As a result it only involves either laboratory
or field experiment and is highly precise. Due to the well organised structure, it
allows the possible elimination of randomness of results in contrast to qualitative
methods which is largely inductive. Nevertheless the accurateness of quantitative
research is dubious in relation to social based research into the effectiveness of risk
reduction approaches though education (Adams 2004: 10-15).
However, a qualitative research method is a humanistic approach, focusing upon
bias and it is centred on the overall process of carrying out the research rather than
only the results (Sarandakos 1993). This method is deeply rooted in emotion,
expression, language and believes that there is a relationship between a person’s
social structure problems, attitudes and behaviour (Shostak 2005). As a result this
qualitative research would seem to be suitable for this investigation regarding the
DRR approaches through education. Furthermore the data to be analysed is rooted
in a person’s single instinctive and biased empirical way of thinking (Bryman 2001).
In addition this research centred on the emotive sense and analysis of
circumstances from a social and mental perception instead of causalities. Therefore,
qualitative methods appeared to be more suitable for fulfilling the aim and objectives
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of this research. However, it was decided that the use of quantitative methods would
be lacking the collection and dissemination of human behaviour in this research.
It appeared that both quantitative and qualitative approaches have their strengths
and weaknesses. While quantitative approaches can provide static pictures which
allow the identification of potential outline regarding DRR approaches and
organisation of society (Brewerton 2001), Qualitative approaches of research offer a
much deeper comprehension of the procedures implicated in the determination of
multifaceted and dynamic responses of the efficiency of DDR through education in
Haiti (Bryman 2001). Therefore, for this research primary and secondary research
methods have been utilised and grounded within the qualitative research paradigm
via the use of interviews thus facilitating the process of which influence and create
these persons beliefs and attitudes (Harlambos et al 2004).
The following section will discuss the methods reviewed and used in the collection
and analysis of data for this investigation as well as the considerations needed in the
selection and application of these research methods.
3.3 Literature Review
An investigation cannot be carried out in isolation from academic studies. Therefore
reviewing literature seemed to be appropriate gathering background information in
order to gain a better understanding of the contextual situation of the research
undertaken with other academic studies (Higgins 1996). Through compiling a
literature review, boundaries have been established thus limiting the lack of details,
vague conclusion and perhaps leading to the abandon of the research (Moor 2000).
Secondary data needed to be gathered in the shape of qualified peer assessed
journals also known as ‘white literature’ in combination with a various range of
published risk reduction policies articles or ‘grey articles’ (Walliman 2006).
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Additionally academic journals were acquired from the University library and the
British Library in London. Concerning online journals, Google Scholar internet search
engine and the online database provided by Coventry University were used.
Furthermore the United Nations International Strategy for Risk Reduction kindly
offered various range of academic papers, from their personal database for this
research only. However the ‘grey literature’ (Wimmer and Dominick 1997) utilised in
the research was not academically peer assessed nonetheless it allowed up-to-date
data on disaster risk reduction approaches and the results of seminars and
conferences. Therefore, in order to use this secondary data, a first analysis had to be
conducted with the investigation in mind. Additionally it appeared logical to
implement data triangulation in order to gain precise observations. The triangulation
of data involved the corroboration of both primary and secondary data gathered as
shown in figure 3.1 (Moran-Ellis et al 2006: 45-59). Therefore, this study did not only
adopt a qualitative approach but also attempted to attain a wide-ranging base of data
representation.
Figure 3.1 Triangulation of data (Watershedplanning 2012)
It seemed that the use of ‘white’ and ‘grey’ literature was not close to each other
nevertheless resuming both overall DRR approaches and DRR ideologies enabled
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the research to identify precise limitations. As a result, interviews were conducted in
order to analyse and discuss the project as a whole.
The following section will discuss the methods used for the collection of primary
data.
3.4 Primary Data Collection Methodology
In order to expand a rational analysis of DRR approaches through education in Haiti
an in-depth comprehension of the roles stakeholders play in DRR in Haiti and the
meaning behind these roles were needed. Therefore, the use of qualitative methods
in the form of questionnaires was undertaken.
3.4.1 Structured Interviews
Structured interviews were the main methods utilised in order to confirm data and
point of views. The use of structured open interviews was summoned to be a
dominant data-gathering instrument by the investigators (Myers and Newman 2007)
but not with its boundaries (Bell et al. 2000). Additional interviews were consequently
conducted with persons from organisations with relevant information regarding the
areas of research, predominantly those who perhaps have had relations with the
implementation of DRR in Haiti.
An important consideration was made in regards to avoid interviewing disaster-
affected people who are mainly Haitians because of the sensitive nature of some of
the necessary research, as that concerned with interviewing refugees and people
who are mentally and physically unstable. Additionally, participants were not asked
any personal questions; comprehensible guidelines set out by Coventry University
were strictly followed in regards to ethical methods and suitable subject of research.
The researcher decided that information would be gathered from a wide spectrum of
participants engaged with DRR in Haiti. The contributors were selected regarding
their ability to provide an official view of the organisations as well as adding their
individual views throughout the interviews. Therefore in order to establish which
organisations were to be chosen as participants for this investigation, non-
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governmental organisations that were suitable met the essential criteria to contribute
to this investigation. The criteria for this project were that they were part of policy
making, acting in Haiti and based on having an office in Europe.
The choices of respondents for the interviews were managers or employees who
worked in DRR in Haiti. Although only six research interviews (A, B, C, D, E, F) were
conducted due to lack of time, they ought to provide knowledge on DRR approaches
through education. In regards to this investigation interviews were chosen above
focus groups because of the fact that there are many organisations working on DRR
in Haiti and internationally. For practical reasons, organisations selected were based
in Europe in order to meet each participant. Although meeting each participant was a
must in order to analyse bias and patterns, it would have been interesting to gather
together various organisation representatives thus enhancing the development of
interesting debates and outcomes. However for practical reasons it was appropriate
to take them into consideration when selecting research methodology (Haralambos
et al 2004).
In order to determine the first organisation to be chosen for this project, online
research was conducted to find out the main policy makers regarding DRR and who
implemented DRR projects in Haiti. From this research, the UNISDR was selected to
partake in this project. Due to the large size of this bilateral organisation, a sub
sample of the whole organisation was created using the criterion set at the start
which was to be based in Europe, part of policy making and acting in Haiti. The
Italian National Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction was selected because of their
relevance to the project. Three employees were chosen to be interviewed thus
gaining a better understanding of their roles within DDR through education in Haiti.
The selection of three employees was to diminish the bias correlated to merely
interviewing one employee. The three employees were selected by using a sampling
technique which will be further discussed later in the chapter.
In order to decide on the second organisation to participate in this investigation, a
different approach was used. In fact, in order to gain a broader view on DRR
approaches, the investigator decided to select a United Kingdom based organisation
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and that has been academically and professionally peer assessed. From these
criterions an organisation known as Practical Action was chosen due to its
practicability and availability. Three employees were chosen to be interviewed by the
researcher using a stratification technique. Therefore, the results from the interview
were counter assessed as the researcher had both points of view to triangulate
them.
Haralambos et al (2004) argued that the use of stratification in order to select
interview participants within an organisation is appropriate when doing active
research. In fact as the purpose of this project is to investigate the effectiveness and
roles of stakeholder within DRR through education in Haiti, the investigator has
deemed that the most suitable method to facilitate the analysis and discussion of
organisations focused on DRR approaches in Haiti and around the world. This is in
accordance with the general project aim which is to seek gathering and examining
the scope of the effectiveness of DDR approaches in Haiti.
In order to gather data, each organisation had to be contacted, therefore preliminary
contact was made through the use of Skype in order to gain contact information for
the most appropriate persons. Following the initial call, an opening email
accompanied with a covering letter (see appendix 1) and an informed consent form
written by following the Coventry University format (see appendix 2) were sent.
When the potential participants agreed to be part of the research, a sheet including
the interview questions was sent via email (appendix 3). After deliberation,
appointments were made for interviews in regards to the subject mentioned in the
questionnaires. Finally before each interview, verbal and written declaration of
confidentiality was once more given to all participants and in order to restore
confidence that any information divulged would not cause them any threats.
Furthermore, they were notified that they could leave the investigation at any time
without penalty.
As a further move away from the choice of conducting interviews over surveys, the
desired methods of gathering primary data was based on numerous reasons. The
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overall aim of this study was to gather and analyse bias and patterns which could not
have been done with surveys. Furthermore, Henderson (1990:56) argued that a
usual response rate for surveys is roughly 20-30%, which would have required a
larger quantity of surveys to be dispatched than possible in the context of this
investigation.
3.5 Sampling techniques
It might perhaps be probable to deduce from the topic of this investigation that a
casual sample proposed to characterise people as a whole would not have been
suitable to the aim and objectives of this project. On this basis Marshall and
Rossman (1995) proposed a site-specific sample. Therefore this has affected the
choice of organisations (Practical Action and Italian Platform for Disaster Risk
Reduction). Many academics consider Site-specific sampling as a character of
purposive sampling which is widely accepted to be part of qualitative research
(Bryman 2001).
In addition to this, data was sought out via the use of “snowball sampling”
techniques. People who were judged to have relevant connection, consequently
detaining valuable information regarding the research were asked to share them if
possible. Padget (1998:52) admitted that qualitative research samples are intended
to “saturate” investigators with data in relation to their selected theme. Additionally
conducted investigation established the restrictions of suitable and ethical sampling,
equally significant considerations in the efficient achievement of well-structured
researches
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3.6 Ethical considerations
It has been broadly acknowledged that any research project involving the interaction
with people has to be executed in an ethical way. Ozerderm and Bowd admitted that:
“ethical concerns could be identified as those which might have an impact on the
physical and psychological wellbeing of respondents as well as such considerations
as those related to their dignity, privacy and respect.” (Ozerdem and Bowd
2010:266)
In a logical way it would seem to deem that the area of this investigation concerning
the effectiveness of DRR through education on people from Haiti, carried out in an
unethical way could put susceptible individuals at risk.
Additionally, from the subject covered by this research it might appear that there
were areas of substantial sensitivity to take into consideration. As a result ethical
consideration had to be taken for the success of the development of this project prior
to the implementation of the investigation, a project proposal was fulfilled in order to
highlight potential issues and explain the appropriate methods that would be
necessary to carry out the research.
Following the project proposal, informed Consent forms were dispatched to the
participants and entire confidentiality was guaranteed. According to Padget
(1998:38) qualitative research is not capable of assuring anonymity because the
participant is known to the investigator. Nevertheless the identity of the person
interviewed should not be exposed under any circumstance, thus maintaining
confidentiality. Additionally, in regards to Coventry University’s code of conduct, all
participants were over 18 years of age and all acknowledged that they could
withdraw from the research at any time. Therefore it was stated with confidence that
all the data gathered and analysed was morally and ethically approved as the
participants had no reason to feel threatened.
After looking at ethical considerations that were made for this research, the following
section will discuss the limitations and scope of the investigation.
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3.7 Limitations and scope of the Research
According to Wimmer and Dominick (1997:85) qualitative research is effectual
merely when its limitations are acknowledged. Therefore to give justice to this
research, several features have already been recognised:
3.7.1 Language barriers
When involving people from different countries language was a challenge therefore it
was a good idea to raise concerns about it. While translating, significance of the
discussion can be lost and perhaps the approach of expression utilised as well as
expressions commonly used in one country might provide diverse meanings in
another. Additionally body language which is heavily used in Italy to express yourself
might be different from the one used in the United Kingdom. The manner things are
presented in one country might be interpreted in a dissimilar way in another.
Consequently these latent challenges had to be diminished thus providing a more
rational study. Although all interviews were conducted in English (UK), a professional
translator was requested in order to both clarify and interpret the questions and
answers given if it was necessary.
3.7.2 Reliability
According to Breakwell et al. (1995:238) participants may not perhaps be honest and
there is also a human predisposition to hear what one wants to hear. Therefore in
order to imitate any inaccuracy the researcher used a process of data triangulation to
validate all results as implied by Ellis and Bochner (2000:18).
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3.7.3 Objectivity
Regarding the nature of the approach, the results were subjected to the bias in
regards to the investigator’s interpretation (Higgins 1996). Although interpretation is
an essential instrument to analyse data collected from interview, probable bias is an
inevitable feature of the investigation project because of the influence upon the
investigator for instance culture and positionality. Consequently for the purpose of
this research, the positionality of the investigator has been accounted and any bias
related as long as it was possible.
3.7.4 Time and resources
Time and resource have always been one of the main limitations when conducting
an investigation such as this one. Swetnam (2010:8) mentioned that any
investigation could profit from unlimited time and resources, consequently this
research was controlled by a short timescale for every phase until the finishing point.
Although the subject of investigation was not neighbouring the investigator,
throughout keeping in mind the aim and objectives of the study the project was
managed successfully. Thus avoiding it to over-reach and fail to complete
The following section will discuss the methods used for the data analysis.
3.8 Research analysis.
The core approach used to investigate qualitative data was the comparative
approach. Moore (2000) states that this method engages the comparison of
numerous Disaster Risk Reduction approaches and is often utilised to expose the
root causes of activities carried out. Furthermore it is frequently involved in the
combination of both primary and secondary data (Haralambos et al. 2004).
Regarding this research the primary data was used along with the secondary data of
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various academic sources such as the DRR centre of Kyoto in Japan in order to
analyse questionnaire results. Through the involvement of the secondary data
additional data was available to analyse therefore it diminished the chances of
coming across bias from only one organisation.
As a result the HFA framework facilitated the use of a comparative approach devoid
of the prejudice that might be shaped from criticising two of the organisation
approaches in opposition to the other. Through the use of this framework it
guaranteed that both organisations are analysed in the identical method and way
that if the investigation was to be carried on in the future that the similar investigative
method may perhaps be applied. Via the involvement of the HFA framework into
data analysis procedure, it enabled various triangulations to take place, thus
boosting the self-assurance of any research answers (Bryman 2001).
3.9 Conclusion
In conclusion this chapter discussed a range of methods from research related to
primary and secondary data. Additionally, existing issues associated to those
methods have been raised as well as the choice of suitable methods for this project.
Furthermore, those methods have been critically discussed thus to gain a better
understanding of the current trends. Therefore, it enabled a better understanding of
the compound factors involved in disaster risk reduction through education in Haiti.
As the aim of the research was to investigate approaches of DRR through education
in Haiti n order to understand its important role in sustainable development at the
present time and also why it is the way to a better future in developing countries
such as Haiti. As a result, various methods have been implemented to gather explicit
information correlated to the topic of investigation and will be discussed in chapter 4.
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Chapter four: Results and Discussion
4.1 Introduction
Prior chapters in this investigation have helped to gain a better understanding of the
concepts of DRR in education and have also explained numerous means of
gathering and assimilating data. This chapter is the product of the investigation that
has had thorough consideration.
This chapter aims to analyse and discuss in details data gathered throughout the
project in order to understand the important role of DRR education in sustainable
development at the present time and also why it is the way to a better future in Haiti.
4.2 Discussion and Analysis of Research Findings
Six semi-structured interviews were planned targeting key DRR practitioners from
bilateral organisation and numerous NGOs involved in Haiti. Out of these, 100%
were accomplished. 80% of interviewees were from NGOs and 20% from bilateral
organisation. 55% of interviews were policy makers and 45% were planners and
implementers.
4.3 DRR within Education systems
Interviewees were asked to state what constitutes DRR within education systems.
70% of interviewees mentioned:
 Youth participation
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 Knowledge
 Training
 First aid
 Empowering youth and community
 School Safety
30% responded:
 Hyogo Framework for Action
 Millennium Development Goals
 Good practices
 Education for sustainable development
From the results it can be seen that the interviewees have a broad knowledge of
DRR education and that those practitioners and policy makers have different points
of view on what should constitute DRR education. It is important to highlight that
70% of respondents were planners and implementers which could explain why such
specific and practical views have been used in comparison to the other group who
were policy makers. These findings tend to confirm the UNISDR (2007) report that
DRR education is perceived differently according to the role of stakeholders in Haiti.
4.4 Role of Education in DRR
After establishing what constitutes DRR education, it was essential to find out to an
extent from practitioners if education plays a role in DRR. Interviewees were
therefore asked to describe and discuss how they felt regarding connections
between DRR and education. School plays an important role in raising awareness
among pupils (85% of respondents), and students represent the future (73%), these
were the main answers (Figure 4.1). Additionally practitioners mentioned that these
results led to transferrable knowledge to parents and community, involvement in the
context of disasters and increase resilience.
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Role of Education in DRR
Raise Awarness
Student represent the future
Transferrable knowledge
Involvement in the context of disasters
18%
32%
22%
28%
Figure 4.1 Results of Role of Education in DRR from practitioners
4.4.1 Interview results on the role of education in Disaster Risk Reduction in
Haiti
Interviewees were similarly asked to explain any roles education plays in DRR.
Amongst many statements interviewees mentioned that education plays a crucial
role in knowledge growth regarding the perception and comprehension of disasters:
“School plays a vital role in increasing consciousness amongst scholars,
educators and parents” (Practitioner B).
Other practitioners also agreed with the above that education in DRR allow both
children and adults to develop an understanding of risks. Commenting on this
Practitioner D stated that:
“DRR education supports communities to gain a better understanding of
natural and environmental conditions as well as human activities that lead to
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disaster in order to stimulate advocacy and also create changed within
individual behaviour.”
Although education plays an important role in DRR, some practitioners argued that
education focuses mainly on natural hazards rather than encouraging them to find
solution, Practitioner A commented on that:
“Haitian Schools focus only on hazards, meaning that teachers teach about
floods, earthquakes and even volcanoes that occurred in other countries at
different times and involving different people.”
On the same point Practitioner E stated that:
“Haitian schools should not only teach natural hazards but should support
children and adults to develop their own solution therefore empowering them.”
The statements above agree to what is highlighted in Haiti’s Red Cross report (Croix
Rouge 2010) that education in all walks of life encourages self-awareness and
empowerment at a certain extent.
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4.4.2 Impact of Disaster Risk Reduction within Haitian Education
Alongside the role of education within DRR, interviewees pointed out that numerous
approaches were used to integrate DRR at school and they all had different impacts
on communities. In such cases communities were positively affected and some
suffered from the choice of approaches implemented within the schools. On this,
Practitioner C mentioned that:
“There are hundreds of different ways of implementing DRR at school
however only a few are deemed to be successful regarding the empowerment
of children and adults as well as making them aware of the potential risks that
surround them.”
It is noteworthy that most interviewees argued that the choice of approaches can
have an important impact on education and therefore the community. In this sense,
education is subjected to the choice and will of practitioners. Furthermore,
practitioners involved in Haiti seem to be concerned about the impact of DRR on
Education:
“It is really hard to implement an idea that is not accepted by the community
itself. The government tends to leave out the educational sector thus leaving
small windows of opportunities to change.”
In the same perspective, Practitioner B commented that:
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“Although Education is considered as a gate way for Haitian people, the lack
of resources and funding diminish their chances of attending school. Very little
is done in regards to involving every member of the community.”
4.4.3 Disaster Risk Reduction Education and Indigenous Knowledge
On a different note to the impact of DRR approaches in education on people, one
interviewee stated that:
“Indigenous knowledge or also known as informal education has significant
positive impacts particularly where people have learnt to live with natural hazards;
they share it together and increase their capacity building.”
The description of local knowledge in this context entails some interesting
possibilities to involve it within education. Additionally Ellen and Harris (2000) argue
that the work ‘indigenous’ involves a split of ‘us and them’ including two different
knowledge structures working against each other. On the other hand this calls for the
comprehension of formal education. According to Norland (2005: 6-12) formal
education is the education provided in the system of schools and involves both
formal and indigenous knowledge. In this perspective DRR implemented at school
becomes vital in local education (UNISDR 2011). Additionally, Talero (2004)
suggests that formal education should entail recognition of numerous type of
education. This statement can argue the legitimacy of ‘us and them’ even though
many of the interviewees mentioned that there is a strong divide between both
formal and informal education in Haiti.
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4.5 Importance of Disaster Risk Reduction incorporation in indigenous
Education policies and programs
Upon finding the roles, impacts and outcomes of DRR in Education, interviewees
were asked their opinions on the importance of incorporating DRR in informal/
indigenous education in Haiti. Practitioners whose programs did not incorporate DRR
in informal education were asked to state if indigenous education should be
incorporated (figures 4.2) and if the current programs and policies incorporate
informal education (figure 4.3).
Should DRR be incorporated in informal Education?
YES NO DON'T KNOW
0% %
20
%
98%
Figure 4.2 Practitioners View on incorporation of DRR in Informal Education
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Figure 4.3 Practitioners response on Programs/Policies with or without informal education
incorporation
These results show that there is a general consensus that informal education is
extremely important and must be considered in disaster risk reduction policy and
programs. On this Interviewee C mainly stated:
“DRR must be tackled from different angles, yes it should be
incorporated. Unfortunately there are many limitations to it such as lack
of resources to do so. Perhaps this is something that should be
considered in the future.”
Furthermore it was noticed that 67% of interviewees did not incorporate DDR in
informal education or did not know whether they did or not (figure 4.3).
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4.5.1 Lack of incorporation of Disaster Risk Reduction in Indigenous
Education
Following this, the interviewees were asked to state and explain the impact of
incorporating DRR in indigenous knowledge. There were several answers but some
particularly disclosed that they felt it was not their accountability. Interviewee F for
instance, mentioned:
“It is not our concern; there are numerous other agencies which focus
on utilising local knowledge as DRR plans.”
In addition to this statement, a noteworthy number of interviewees recognised that
the incorporation of DRR in indigenous education was disregarded as evidenced by
interview D: “it is taken for granted.”
In regards to the lack of acknowledgement about the incorporation of DRR in
indigenous knowledge from more than half of the interviewees can involve many
issues. The findings showed that 67% of practitioner’s policies did not incorporate
DRR in informal education or did not know about it, is troubling. Perhaps the lack of
funding and donor’s choice of where the money goes is part of the problem. On this
interviewee A stated:
“Donors are the main decision makers in any of our programs; our role
is to make sure that our plans comply with what they want to see.”
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Leaving out indigenous knowledge from DRR does not seem to be a choice from the
practitioners’ opinion which seems to relate to Practitioner D’s assertion that
indigenous knowledge is taken for granted as there are not any policies and
programs in place.
4.5.2 Suggestions of Indigenous Knowledge incorporation
Interviewees were then encouraged to provide explanations on how indigenous
knowledge should be incorporated in disaster policies and programs. Commonly
interviewees felt that indigenous knowledge should be incorporated at all stages of
DRR as interviewee B stated that:
“Indigenous knowledge should be part of risk reduction programs as
people already have the information but we don’t.”
Nevertheless various others felt that it should be incorporated into the development
stage. Interviewee E stated:
“Indigenous knowledge is the golden egg of development; it should be
part of the development phase.”
Furthermore a different interviewee also suggested that indigenous knowledge
should be incorporated within various development activities. “A good practice
approach would be beneficial, so that if it would be in health or water and sanitation,
it should also be applied to disaster risk reduction” (Interviewee C).
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The above propositions are highly pertinent to Haiti scenario being one of the least
developed countries in the world. This perspective on education complying with
development agrees with what UNESCO (2010) mentions as a “perplexing link”
between education and development. In addition to this, Schiper and Pelling (2006)
agreed with the above statement by arguing that new links need to be explored
between DRR and development in order to move toward sustainable development.
Additionally some interviewees stated that indigenous education incorporation
should be made clear as to what levels it should be implemented.
4.5.3 Current informal education incorporation approaches
Interviewees who responded with a ‘yes’ about their programs and policies
incorporating DRR in indigenous knowledge education were asked to explain further
their thoughts on how it was addressed. It was highlighted that a capacity building
through the training of teachers and community representative was implemented as
interviewee E suggested:
“We help the teachers to gain better awareness of risks through
seminars and we also involve members of the community in Haiti for
instance women but also anybody who is willing to join.”
Equally interviewee F stated:
“Capacity building is our main approach when implementing DRR in
education, it allows the people to empower themselves through
information they already have.”
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While these approaches are appreciated, they seem to tackle only explicit areas.
Emphasis should be placed on to significantly and holistically engage in the other
areas.
4.6 Disaster Risk Reduction and the education system
After establishing indigenous knowledge importance, impacts and incorporation in
disaster policies and programs, participants were asked to identify any evidence of
disaster education through formal and informal education systems in Haiti. Figure 4.5
presents the findings.
Risk comprehension/awareness
School trips
YES
NO
Hazard awareness NOT SURE
Trainings
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Figure 4.4 Results of identification of disaster education through formal and informal
education system in Haiti
The results shows that practitioners have identified many evidences as indicated by
a ‘yes’ response rate of over 80% on most of the evidences. However it seems that
school trips is not widely acknowledged or implemented as shown by a 43% of ‘yes.’
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4.6.1 Risk awareness in formal education
83% of interviewees mentioned risk awareness due to presence of it in the Haitian
school curriculum. However as interviewee A stated:
“Children are taught at school the effects of cholera or where they
should drink or not drink. The problem is not the presence of risk
awareness but how it is taught. Teachers have not got enough
knowledge to provide pupils with a full understanding of the risks. They
only teach the effects and not the causes; thereby it gets harder to
figure out solutions to the causes.”
Furthermore, some interviewees noted that the education system’s approach did not
provide sufficient hours to risk comprehension and awareness. Interviewee B
highlighted that:
“Formal education in Haiti does not consider risk reduction as priority
number one, people need a job after school and the main jobs are
either in computing or finance. The curriculum therefore focuses on
modules which will enhance the necessary skills.”
Risk awareness empowers children and helps build not only their capacities but also
community’s capacities through friends and families (UNISDR 2007). Risk
awareness is part of DRR and can be affected by numerous factors such as lack of
commitment from the stakeholders in this case the government. Nevertheless Petal
(2009: 285-320) the undermining issue causing the lack of commitment is ironically
due to lack of awareness from the government bodies. According to Vaughan et al
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(2003: 12) if ministries and teachers were aware of the importance of risk awareness
at school this would help the move forward the incorporation of a decent risk
reduction platform in the curriculum.
4.6.2 Disaster Risk Reduction through informal education
43% of interviewees mentioned the presence of school trips in the Haitian school
curriculum (Figure 4.4). In order to find out more about it, participants were then
prompted to explain why they said ‘yes’ and also if this particular approach benefited
pupils. On this it was noted by interviewee E that:
“Town-watching has been implemented recently at school in Port au
Prince. Children are encouraged to go outside school as a group and
try to identify problems and try to come up with solutions. This
approach helps not only the children but also adults to realise unsafe
places and factors that might trigger a disaster.”
Additionally, another interviewee highlighted that:
“This Disaster Risk Reduction approach is necessary in a country such
as Haiti that is frequently challenged by natural hazards. The positive
point about this approach is that it is student led, teachers only
overview the activity which makes it more realistic and students learn
better from each other” (Interviewee C).
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It seems that this approach benefits children and communities nonetheless. In order
to evaluate this approach participants were then asked to express their opinions on
whether this approach was successful or not (Figure 4.5 presents the findings).
Evaluation of Town Watching approach
Does not work
0%
Successful
Improvements 26%
needed
32%
Nationalisation of
the approach
42%
Figure 4.5 Practitioners and Policy makers Views on the Town watching approach
The results show that there is a common divide between both practitioners and
policy makers. Most of the policy makers responded that this approach needed
improvements (32%) whilst the practitioners said it was successful (26%) and it
should be integrated within the national curriculum (42%). On this interviewee F
essentially noted:
“By working with schools and communities we have seen positive
changes in their behaviours. This approach helped students and
communities to build their own capacities through identifying risks
surrounding them.”
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Equally interviewee D highlighted:
“This approach created links between schools and communities, the
knowledge from students was shared with community members and
through their indigenous knowledge adults were also contributing to
finding causes and solutions. Therefore this approach should be
implemented at a national level in order to benefit everyone.”
On the other hand interviewee A stated:
“This approach does work however in order to make it better
improvements would have to be made. Teachers for instance would
need decent trainings to be more efficient. Additionally this approach
should be expended to mountain Watching and also Coastal Watching
to make pupils and facilitators aware of their environments at a national
scale” (see figure 4.6).
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Figure 4.6 Framework of the Regional Watching: Understanding the River Basin (Interviewee
A)
The statements above agree with the UNISDR (2007) report which argues that
disaster knowledge taught at school is important but is insufficient to raise
awareness. In response to this the Coalition Global School Safety and Disaster
Prevention Education (COGSS 2008) states that education is crucial as the sharing
of information among the communities. However in order to make classroom lectures
more efficient and encourage pupils to learn more, non formal experience and
activities oriented combine with community participation should be incorporated as
shown in figure 4.6 (UNESCO 2010). Nevertheless quality of information delivered
was notably a concern. One interviewee mentioned that quality of information is an
issue on its own; the lack of enthusiasm in learning more about disasters is common
in Haiti. People do not want to know how it occurs but what to do after the disaster
happened.
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4.7 Disaster Risk Reduction Frameworks and education
Interviewees were identically asked to state what frameworks they used if any to
implement DRR through education in Haiti and also to explain why they used one or
not (Figure 4.6 presents the findings).
Others
Yes
Don't not
None
HFA
0 20 40 60 80 100
Figure 4.7 Interviewees choice of framework to implement DRR through education in Haiti
The results show that most of the practitioners and policy makers (90%) use the
Hyogo Framework for Action as main tool to implement projects and create new
policies. Nevertheless 10% of interviewees stated that they use other types of
frameworks. It is important to highlight that the 10% represents an NGO which
creates its own policies, frameworks, approaches and plans.
On this interviewee E noted:
“Through the use of the HFA practitioners and facilitators have a
common ground to step on. The HFA priority for action 3 allows us to
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work with government bodies in order to make Disaster risk reduction
part of the formal curricula.”
Equally Interviewee B stated:
“The HFA makes it easier for us to work within a cluster and try to
come up with solutions as a team. Additionally it encourages us to
promote extra-curricular and community based disaster reduction via
the implementation of activities out of school.”
However interview C highlighted:
“The HFA is a good idea to move toward sustainable development
nonetheless the use of grass root frameworks seems more logical to us
in terms of financial capacity.”
It seems that there is a tendency for policy makers to use the HFA and field
practitioners to use their own frameworks. In order to gain a more detail insight of the
topic interviewees were asked to state whether the use of the HFA or other
frameworks provided positive results at the local and national level (Figure 4.7
presents the findings).
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