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Community organizing for flood risk reduction in Xieng Ngeun District, Luang Prabang Province, Lao People’s Democratic Republic
Thesis Abstract:
The study analyzed the community organizing for flood risk reduction in XiengNgeun District, Luang Prabang Province, Lao PDR. Specifically, the study aimed to:(1) describe the socioeconomic characteristics of the households and the geographiccondition of the affected communities, (2) identify the political and institutional agentsin the affected communities, (3) discuss the community organizing activities/effortstoward flood risk reduction in the affected communities, (4) analyze communityorganizing done for flood disaster risk reduction and management (FDRRM) in the affected communities, and (5) develop a community organizing framework for FDRRM for Lao PDR.
Pakvaed and Xieng Ngeun, two villages in the district, were chosen as the study sites based on their proximity to the Nam Khan River that make them highly vulnerable to flooding and their being vastly devastated by the August 8, 2012 disaster flooding. From these villages, 90 respondents were randomly selected to answer the structured questionnaire. Descriptive statistics was used in the analysis of data. The study also used key informant interviews using guide questions, focus group discussions, and desk review of relevant secondary documents.
The respondents were dominantly adult male, with primary education, married, landholders, and economically comfortable. Most of them had extended families and stable sources of income as farmers and entrepreneurs. The August 8, 2012 flood had no adverse impact on their livelihoods and income. Their villages were floodprone. Support agencies (local government units, nongovernment organizations, and line agencies) were available to assist the villages of Xieng Ngeun and Pakvaed on disaster flooding. However, they perceived themselves as available but not fully ready and competent in terms of knowledge and skills to assist the villagers.
The support agencies as community organizers did not involve the local people in problem identification and analysis. They implemented programs or activities that they brought with them—a distinction of top-down process. At the household and community levels, the respondents were nearly prepared for a flood disaster but still lacked the necessary survival tools and equipment, and coping mechanisms. At the institutional level, the support agencies were not adequately flood disaster riskinformed and skilled, thus affecting the community’s preparedness on flooding.
The study proposed a community organizing for FDRRM framework that is peculiar in the political and sociocultural context of Lao PDR and acknowledges the need for guidelines as well as resources and facilitators from outside and the local community.