HIV/AIDS, Climate Change and Disaster Management : Challenges for Institutions in Malawi
Southern African institutions involved in disaster management face two major new threats: the HIV/AIDS pandemic (eroding organizational capacity and increasing vulnerability of the population), and climate change (higher risk of extreme events and...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Policy Research Working Paper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2012
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2008/05/9473738/hivaids-climate-change-disaster-management-challenges-institutions-malawi http://hdl.handle.net/10986/6694 |
| Summary: | Southern African institutions involved
in disaster management face two major new threats: the
HIV/AIDS pandemic (eroding organizational capacity and
increasing vulnerability of the population), and climate
change (higher risk of extreme events and disasters).
Analyzing the combined effects of these two threats on six
disaster-related institutions in Malawi, the authors find
evidence of a growing gap between demand for their services
and capacity to satisfy that demand. HIV/AIDS leads to staff
attrition, high vacancy rates, absenteeism, increased
workload and other negative effects enhanced by human
resources policies and financial limitations. Many necessary
tasks cannot be carried out adequately with constraints such
as the 42 percent vacancy rate in the Department of Poverty
and Disaster Management Affairs, or the reduction of
rainfall stations operated by the Meteorological Service
from over 800 in 1988 to just 135 in 2006. The authors
highlight implications of declining organizational capacity
for climate change adaptation, and formulate recommendations. |
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