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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Environ. Sci.
Sec. Interdisciplinary Climate Studies
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fenvs.2024.1474344
This article is part of the Research Topic Climate Change Vulnerability, Adaptation, and Human Settlements View all 8 articles

Mainstreaming Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) into Development: Effectiveness of DRR Investment in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

Provisionally accepted
Imran Khan Imran Khan 1*Amjad Ali Amjad Ali 1Waheed Ullah Waheed Ullah 2*Mushtaq A. Jan Mushtaq A. Jan 1Safi Ullah Safi Ullah 3Shahinshah Khan Shahinshah Khan 4
  • 1 Centre for Disaster Preparedness and Management, University of Peshawar, Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan
  • 2 Defense and Security, Rabdan Academy, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Abu Bhabi, United Arab Emirates
  • 3 Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences & Institute of Atmospheric Science, Fudan University, Shanghai, China, Shanghai, China
  • 4 Department of Geography and Geomatics, University of Peshawar, Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    As a low-income country, Pakistan is particularly vulnerable to various natural and humaninduced disasters, which have significant consequences for both the environment and human life. A substantial share of the provincial budget is allocated to disaster response and recovery efforts. Prioritizing investment in disaster risk reduction (DRR) is essential to protect lives and assets. Although there is a complex relationship between investments made before and after disasters and their effectiveness in DRR, this dynamic remains insufficiently understood in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province. The current study was designed to analyze the developmental budgeting for DRR in the financial years 2000-2022 in KP province. The Sen's Slope Estimator and modified Mann-Kendall tests were used to determine the significance trend, while the correlation coefficient test was used to find the correlation between investment in DRR and disaster-induced damages such as deaths, injuries and houses damaged. The study findings reveal that the occurrence of disasters influences post-disaster spending in the KP province, with a significant negative correlation between expenditure and disaster-related damages, implying that increased DRR investment has significantly reduced the consequences of disasters. To minimize vulnerability to future disasters, the province should integrate risk-sensitive planning across all sectoral departments at local, district, and provincial levels, guided by a risk-informed development approach. This proactive strategy would embed disaster resilience within developmental activities, ensuring that each sector aligns with principles of risk reduction and sustainable growth.

    Keywords: Disaster Risk Reduction, Disaster risk financing, Disaster risk governance, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), Pakistan

    Received: 01 Aug 2024; Accepted: 31 Oct 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Khan, Ali, Ullah, Jan, Ullah and Khan. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Imran Khan, Centre for Disaster Preparedness and Management, University of Peshawar, Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan
    Waheed Ullah, Defense and Security, Rabdan Academy, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Abu Bhabi, United Arab Emirates

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