The 08 September 2023 Al Haouz earthquake in Morocco revealed how language-based inequalities can intensify vulnerability during crises. This essay examines disaster linguicism – the marginalisation of minority language speakers in disaster contexts – through the experiences of Amazigh (Berber) women in the High Atlas region. Drawing on disaster studies, sociolinguistics and gender theory, the analysis indicates the limited use of Tamazight in emergency communication as a critical barrier to equitable disaster response. Although Tamazight was constitutionally recognised as an official language in 2011, crisis communications and aid distribution continued to prioritise Arabic and French. This exclusion disproportionately affected monolingual Tamazight-speaking women, who faced compounded obstacles due to both linguistic and gendered marginalisation. The analysis underscores the urgent need to integrate linguistic inclusion into disaster risk reduction (DRR) strategies. Contribution: This essay contributes to the growing body of decolonial disaster studies by introducing disaster linguicism as a structural risk factor. It recommends policy shifts towards linguistically inclusive risk communication, empowerment of Amazigh women as cultural mediators, and reforms to ensure that language equity is embedded in Morocco’s disaster governance framework.
Disaster mitigation governance increasingly requires attention to adaptive capacity as a process developed through interaction among actors rather than as a fixed set of resources or institutional attributes. In multihazard settings such as Mamuju Regency, West Sulawesi, this perspective helps explain how actors reorganise in response to disruption. This study examined how collective action contributed to adaptive capacity in local disaster mitigation governance in Mamuju Regency. This interpretive qualitative case study included 35 participants from disaster management agencies, local government institutions, volunteer organisations, and civil society. Data were generated through in-depth interviews, multistakeholder focus group discussions (FGDs), and institutional documents and analysed using thematic coding, interpretive reconstruction, and process tracing. Four interconnected mechanisms were identified: trust formation, adaptive coordination, social learning, and resource mobilisation. Their effects were visible in the reorganisation of communication and coordination during disruption. Adaptive capacity developed unevenly: absorptive capacity was most clearly observed, anticipatory capacity remained emerging, and transformative capacity was developing and conditional on the institutionalisation of learning and collaborative practices. Collective action did not automatically generate adaptive capacity; its contribution depended on whether interaction produced observable and sustained changes in preparedness, learning, coordination, and institutional adjustment. Contribution: The study provides a process-based explanation linking structural risk conditions, crisis-triggered interaction, collective-action mechanisms, adaptive outcomes, differentiated adaptive capacity, and governance adjustment.
Rwanda faces substantial and growing challenges from flood impacts in both rural and urban areas. This review examines riverine flood events and flood risk management (FRM) in Rwanda, identifying key drivers, institutional developments and persistent gaps. Frequent flooding, which has affected more than 2 million people, is primarily driven by steep topography and intense rainfall, compounded by rapid urbanisation, deforestation and unregulated mining activities. Based on a systematic review of 19 stakeholder reports and 41 peer-reviewed research articles, the study highlights critical shortcomings in current FRM practices, including fragmented data management, the absence of dedicated FRM legislation and limited technical capacity at sub-national levels. Although existing interventions increasingly incorporate nature-based solutions such as terracing and reforestation, their effectiveness is often constrained by governance structures that follow administrative rather than hydrological boundaries. To support Rwanda’s Vision 2050, the review advocates a shift from reactive disaster response towards proactive, catchment-based flood governance. Contribution: Key recommendations include the establishment of technically specialised catchment-level institutions, the deployment of automated telemetry-enabled hydro-meteorological monitoring systems and the expansion of integrated green-grey infrastructure. Collectively, these measures aim to establish a robust, multi-level FRM framework capable of reducing vulnerability under escalating climate risks.
