Disaster resilience indicators of households

Keywords: rwanda, resilience, natural disaster
Abstract Type: Paper Abstract

Abstract

Measuring the vulnerability and then resilience to disaster of an individual, community, or system must go beyond the objective data of infrastructure, precipitation, soil composition, and other physical data to generate a complete picture. This research sought to define disaster indicators through standardized interviews with forced migrants in refugee camps as well as in communities across Rwanda. The researchers conducted 86 interviews, each with a single interlocutor. Often other members of the community were present and provided additional information on the conditions and factors that make their ability to recover after a disaster either easier or harder. Using a tested, refined, and peer reviewed group of questions with Esri’s Survey123 application, the researchers conducted interviews with randomly selected interlocutors in their homes which provided opportunities to examine previous damage and document perceived potential issues. A Rwandan colleague in GIS conducted the interviews, asking the questions and clarifying and recording responses on a tablet. Non-local researchers were briefed on the main takeaways and followed up with additional questions based on site-specific observations. Results suggest that, though the two generally defined communities of refugee or non-refugee certainly have differences, they also share similarities that impact their resilience. With an expanded sampling, the researchers strive to use these results coupled with remote sensing data to build a model of resilience usable by aid organizations, governments, and future researchers.