Conference Agenda

Disaster management continues to be a global challenge requiring great attention for addressing the frequency and intensity of natural and human-caused disasters. In Uganda, drought, epidemics, floods, landslides, and civil wars are some of the common disasters that have affected scores of the population across the country. In the last two decades evidence of internal displacements and death in thousands of people have been recorded the least expected being a tragic event on August 10, 2024, when a large portion of Kampala's main landfill collapsed, burying homes and claiming lives. These disasters increase risk and vulnerability to humanity calling for collaborative efforts to mitigate the disaster impact on communities. The disaster re-occurance tests the organisational learning capabilities of the government entities charges with responsibilities of managing such disasters. Uganda like many other countries is an active partner in the international disaster risk reduction domain, having signed several international instruments including the Hyogo Framework for Action, the Africa Regional Disaster Risk Reduction Strategy, the IGAD Drought Disaster Resilience and Sustainability Initiative (IDDRSI) Strategy, the East African Community (EAC) Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Strategy (2012-2016) as well as the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction. While these protocals might be effective in addressing effects of natural disasters, prevention and mitigation of man-made disasters are becoming consistently an elusive complex matter requiring new strategies especially for less developed countries .

This paper explains Kiteezi Landfill disaster as a study case for managing non-natural disasters. It presents documented evidence and narratives about the case, analyses the role of existing institutional frameworks in managing the case and proposes the new thinking of how non-natural disaster risks can be minimised. The paper also invokes re-alignment of the capacity of a system in context, community, or individual to cope with, adapt to, and recover from the effects of a hazard.

This study focused on the importance of investigating and evaluating disaster preparedness and response effectiveness in two of South Africa’s vulnerable coastal regions of KwaZulu-Natal [KZN] and the Eastern Cape [EC] before during and after the impact of the flood disasters. Qualitative data collection involved online media articles analysis and expert interviews with key figures from government, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), universities and research institutes. The findings showed that the devastating consequences of flood disasters were due to poor governance, inadequate funding, and ineffective disaster risk reduction mechanisms. Where plans exist, they often lack a solid foundation in research. Furthermore, the absence of partnerships and collaboration among stakeholders, along with insufficient monitoring resources and overreliance on consultants for plan development hampered the ability of officials to provide relief during flood disasters. The problem was observed in both provinces studied. Although the research sheds light on the current situation, there remains a significant disconnect between the perceptions of the households in at-risk areas and the preparedness plans designed to protect them.

Abstract

1. Problem Statement and Purpose:Risk management and control is the core issue of public management research. In recent years, with the revolution of biotechnology and the development of bioeconomy, biosafety risk management has become a new problem faced by governments of all countries, and it is also a frontier research topic of public management. In this sense，building a closed-loop biosecurity risk control mechanism is an important issue for safeguarding national security in the new era, and it is also the meaning of promoting biotechnology innovation and bioeconomy development.

2. Methodology:By combining qualitative research with empirical surveys, and applying analytical methods such as self-organization theory, catastrophe theory, dissipative structure, and synergetics of complex network systems to the analysis of the evolution mechanism of biosafety risks and the construction of a systemic prevention and control mechanism, we can more comprehensively and systematically assess the new situation of biosafety, the evolution patterns of risks, and the constraining factors. This approach will promote the full-chain governance and modernization of capabilities for managing biosafety risks.

3. Findings：The research shows that there are still some specific problems in the current biosafety risk management and control, such as lack of thought and understanding, insufficient collaborative management and control mechanism, and insufficient professionalism, pertinence and effectiveness of management and control. The construction of a closed-loop biosafety risk management mechanism in the new era should follow the following four principles: first, adhere to the principle of people first and life first; second, adhere to the principle of overall bioeconomic development and biosecurity; third, adhere to the principle of advancing the gate, precise prevention and control, collaborative interaction, and systematic governance; fourth, adhere to the principle of peacetime integration of risk prevention and emergency management.

4. Proposal: Combining the characteristics and evolutionary laws of biological security risks, a comprehensive network governance framework is used to build a closed-loop management mechanism for the entire chain of biological security risks. Specifically, in the stage of normalized prevention and monitoring, a prevention and preparation mechanism, a monitoring and early warning mechanism, and a risk reduction mechanism should be established. In the stage of emergency network coordination, the focus should be on reshaping the network's organizational relationships, optimizing organizational structures and functions, and enhancing the network's operational governance capabilities. In the aspect of normalized management and emergency response linkage, the process control and dynamic adjustment mechanism, the performance evaluation and supervision and accountability mechanism should be improved to promote system coupling and efficient transformation, and form a new pattern of precise prevention, coordinated emergency response, three-dimensional efficiency, and closed-loop management for biological security assurance.

5. References:

[1]Patlovich, S.J, Emery, R.J, Whitehead, L.W, etc. Assessing the Biological Safety Profession 's Evaluation and Control of Risks Associated with the Field Collection of Potentially Infectious Specimens [J]. Applied Biosafety, 2015,(1).

[2]Koblentz, Gregory D. Biosecurity Reconsidered: Calibrating Biological Threats and Responses [J]. International Security, 2010,(4).

[3]Zhang Chengfu. Public Crisis Management: The Comprehensive Integrated Model and China’s Strategic Choices [J]. Chinese Public Administration, 2003(7): 6-11.

The South African local government sector faces chronic financial risk factors, including fraud, corruption, irregular and wasteful expenditure, racketeering, political patronage, and financial mismanagement. Despite the existence of comprehensive regulatory and legislative frameworks, these mechanisms are not effectively embedded in municipal financial consequence management systems. Weak enforcement and lack of accountability have resulted in unchecked financial misconduct, with municipalities increasingly becoming havens for financial crimes. The absence of coherent financial risk recovery frameworks has further hindered efforts to recover misappropriated public funds and hold offenders accountable, exacerbating public distrust and service delivery failures.

This study aims to conceptualise and develop a Financial Management Risk Recovery Framework for South African local government, with a focus on enhancing consequence management, deterring financial crimes, and improving municipal financial governance. Grounded in the Theory of Planned Behaviour and Agency Theory, the research adopts a qualitative approach, relying on an in-depth desktop review of relevant literature, policy documents, and audit reports. The study explores the systemic weaknesses in internal controls, accountability structures, and enforcement mechanisms that contribute to persistent financial mismanagement.

By contextualising these issues within the South African governance landscape, the study seeks to influence policy reform and institutional practice. While the conceptual framework is developed in this phase through qualitative analysis, it will be empirically tested at a later stage. Ultimately, the study aims to contribute to the body of knowledge on municipal financial governance and provide practical strategies for enhancing financial resource recovery and reducing corruption in local government.