The Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) of South Africa will host the 1st International Conference on Risk and Disaster Management from 1 to 4 October 2022 in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe.
Held under the theme, Investing in Disaster Management for Sustainable Development, the conference comes in the aftermath of the devastating social, economic and environmental effects of various interlinked crises, including the COVID-19 pandemic, droughts, famine, cyclones, and the recent flooding in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, as well as numerous global armed conflicts and wars.
The conference seeks to harness the broad, interdisciplinary expertise of the delegates to build networks and to discuss the most pressing issues in disaster risk research across the academic and practical disciplines.
Policymakers, disaster specialists, researchers, academia, scholars, think tanks, civil society organisations, business and humanitarian organisations will be afforded the opportunity to exhibit their products and to network in one place.
The significance of disaster management is expressed in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, the Sendai Framework, Africa Agenda 2063 and various national constitutions. A 360-degree interdisciplinary exploration of the dynamics and risks associated with disasters is necessary to develop effective strategies and responses to the disaster phenomenon.
Presenters will focus on thematic areas such as business continuity, public health risk management, resilient critical infrastructure, indigenous knowledge for disaster risk reduction, disaster modelling, surveillance and remote sensing, The nexus between disasters and development, disaster risks, monitoring and mitigation, community response, recovery and resilience building.
The hybrid conference is organised in collaboration with the Sustainable Food Systems and Development Faculty: Natural and Agricultural Sciences of the University of Free State, the Tugwi Mukosi Multidisciplinary Research Institute of the Midlands State University, HSRC of South Africa, National Disaster Management of Africa, the Civil Protection Unit of Zimbabwe, and the HSRC’s Africa Institute of South Africa.