How do you build back better so no one is left behind? Lessons from Sint Maarten, Dutch Caribbean, following Hurricane Irma

TY - JOUR

T1 - How do you build back better so no one is left behind? Lessons from Sint Maarten, Dutch Caribbean, following Hurricane Irma

AU - Collodi, Jason

AU - Pelling, Mark

AU - Fraser, Arabella

AU - Borie, Maud

AU - Di Vicenz, Simone

PY - 2019/1/1

Y1 - 2019/1/1

N2 - The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030 and the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals call for action to build back better in ways that leave no one behind. At the same time, ensuring a local voice is increasingly central to humanitarian engagement. These aims contrast with limited analysis of how local actors might be supported in these respects during response and recovery, and how far recommendations are specific or generalisable across richer and poorer national contexts. The paper begins by comparing lessons learnt by survivors and community organisations in Sint Maarten, Dutch Caribbean, following a high-income state-led response to Hurricane Irma in 2017 with the priorities of lower income, humanitarian-led endeavours. The differences reveal the importance of economic resources as the basis for individual self-reliance and a fragmented civil society with limited leadership ambitions in Sint Maarten. Strong cross-cultural alignment nevertheless allows for a globally-relevant and yet contextually-sensitive framework for survivor-led action and reconstruction.

AB - The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030 and the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals call for action to build back better in ways that leave no one behind. At the same time, ensuring a local voice is increasingly central to humanitarian engagement. These aims contrast with limited analysis of how local actors might be supported in these respects during response and recovery, and how far recommendations are specific or generalisable across richer and poorer national contexts. The paper begins by comparing lessons learnt by survivors and community organisations in Sint Maarten, Dutch Caribbean, following a high-income state-led response to Hurricane Irma in 2017 with the priorities of lower income, humanitarian-led endeavours. The differences reveal the importance of economic resources as the basis for individual self-reliance and a fragmented civil society with limited leadership ambitions in Sint Maarten. Strong cross-cultural alignment nevertheless allows for a globally-relevant and yet contextually-sensitive framework for survivor-led action and reconstruction.

KW - build back better

KW - community-led response

KW - Hurricane Irma

KW - leave no one behind

KW - localisation

KW - resilience

KW - Sint Maarten

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85087301680&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1111/disa.12423

DO - 10.1111/disa.12423

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85087301680

SN - 0361-3666

JO - Disasters

JF - Disasters

ER -