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Development Challenges in Bhutan pp 171–201Cite as

Disaster Governance, Inequality and Poverty Alleviation in Bhutan: Towards Integrated and Preventive Policies

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Part of the book series: Contemporary South Asian Studies ((CSAS))

Abstract

This chapter establishes the linkages between the impact of climate change, the GNH framework and poverty alleviation. It argues for a more integrated and preventive policy-making based on a people-centred preventive approach for disaster governance. Unless communities are cooperatively empowered to be part of a governance system that can effectively address some of the negative impacts of development, their resilience will remain undermined. It analyses the synergies between policies relevant to disaster governance and to poverty alleviation in Bhutan and discusses the complexity involved for policy-makers and development partners to ensure a people-centred preventive approach and inter-sectorial integration. This chapter analyses the extent to which the institutional context addresses the challenges to achieve sustainable development given the threat and permanence of disaster risk. It also discusses how synergies can be created between diverse partners and collaborative networks to strengthen policy-making in a more preventive and collaborative context. Advocacy and awareness campaigns to address disaster risk have been mainly undertaken by government organisations, but the potential role of existing networks and existing social relations of support has not been explored fully. This chapter concludes on the challenges, opportunities and possible leverages to improve disaster governance and reduce inequities, including the role of the private sector.

There has to be a broader and a more people-centred preventive approach to disaster risk.

UN Post-2015 Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (Zero Draft 2014, p. 4)

This study is part of a research project funded by the Ministry of Education of Singapore ‘Governing Compound Disasters in Urbanising Asia ’ from October 2014–October 2017. The author wishes to thank Professor Mike Douglass for his insightful comments.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    This is demonstrated by the introduction of regulations and laws in accordance to the Hyogo Framework for Action (2005–2015), culminating in the enactment of the Disaster Management Act in 2013.

  2. 2.

    As part of the country’s disaster risk management, a large project was introduced, funded by the UNDP -GEF under LDC funding to reduce climate change -induced risks and vulnerabilities from Glacier Lake Outburst Flood in the Punakha -Wangdi and Chamkhar valleys. It involves lowering the water level of Thorthormi Lake, installing a GLOF Early Warning System in the valley and strengthening Disaster Management and Communities Awareness . The DDM and MoHCA are the main implementing agencies.

  3. 3.

    See http://www.adrc.asia/nationinformation.php?NationCode=64&Lang=en&NationNum=33 (accessed February 19, 2015).

  4. 4.

    See http://www.adrc.asia/nationinformation.php?NationCode=64&Lang=en&NationNum=33 (accessed February 19, 2015).

  5. 5.

    See http://www.ldeo.columbia.edu/chrr/research/profiles/bhutan.html (accessed February 13, 2015).

  6. 6.

    Bhutan News Service (2013) ‘The Inequality Gap’, May 8, 2013 (Accessed February 24, 2015)

  7. 7.

    Disaster management falls under the purview of the Ministry of Home and Cultural Affairs as well as all issues related to local governance and environmental management.

  8. 8.

    For example, the Act states that civil society organisations are required to provide necessary human and material resources to support disaster management activities, when requested by the Chairperson of the Dzongkhag Disaster Management Committee.

  9. 9.

    See http://www.ddm.gov.bt/cbdrm (accessed February 25, 2015).

  10. 10.

    See http://www.grossnationalhappiness.com/articles/ (accessed February 23, 2015).

  11. 11.

    In a post-disaster context in urban and peri-urban areas in particular, the affected population may also include foreign workers who are not Bhutanese citizens but would nevertheless require emergency support.

  12. 12.

    As of early 2015, the 13 cities are Bangkok, Delhi, Hanoi, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Metropolitan Manila, Seoul, Singapore, Taipei, Tokyo, Tomsk, Ulaanbaatar and Yangon. See http://www.anmc21.org/english/summary/index.html (accessed February 6, 2015).

  13. 13.

    See http://www.tarayanafoundation.org/?p=1080 (accessed February 13, 2015).

  14. 14.

    See http://www.tarayanafoundation.org (accessed February 13, 2015).

  15. 15.

    See http://www.bnew.bt (accessed February 13, 2015).

  16. 16.

    The second Parliamentary Elections in 2013, where 32 seats were won by the opposition party, The People’s Democratic Party (PDP), and 15 seats by the Bhutan Peace and Prosperity Party, took place amid calls for stronger ties with India, following India’s brief discontinuity of fuel and gas subsidies around the election period. See http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2013-07-30/news/40895217_1_indian-ambassador-subsidy-gas (accessed February 23, 2015).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, 469C Bukit Timah Rd, Tanglin, Singapore

    Caroline Brassard

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  1. Caroline Brassard
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Correspondence to Caroline Brassard .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Political Science, Aalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark

    Johannes Dragsbæk Schmidt

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Brassard, C. (2017). Disaster Governance, Inequality and Poverty Alleviation in Bhutan: Towards Integrated and Preventive Policies. In: Schmidt, J. (eds) Development Challenges in Bhutan. Contemporary South Asian Studies. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-47925-5_9

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