Progress and challenges of Guinea’s national service of risk management in building climate-induced disasters’ resilience in Guinea Savanna communities

The increased frequency and magnitude of climate-induced disasters are a huge setback for the world’s economic growth and performance. Addressing such risks has long time motivated many governments to set up disaster-based management strategies, policies, and plans to strengthen their resilience. However, the implementation of such initiatives remains challenging in developing countries due to their specific internal development issues that require timely performance appraisals to offer suitable remedial actions. This motivated the present study to use the Risk Management Index (RMI), to measure Guinea’s risk management performance and effectiveness, focusing on its institutional progress and challenges encountered in building climate-induced disasters’ resilience in Guinea Savanna communities. Data were generated through semi-structured interviews with local authorities responsible for implementing prevention measures and emergency responses to disasters in Guinea Savanna, as well as inputs from academia with activities related to disaster risk management, combined with documentary research and field observations. Analyses of the RMI showed very limited progress in risk identification (RMIRI = 0.672 – 1.00), while almost no significant progress was made in financial provision (RMIFP = 0.124 – 0.487). On the contrary, policies of disaster management (RMIDM = 0.600 – 1.934) and Risk Reduction (RMIRR = 0.791 -1.606) have shown incipient progress. While all public policies need to be improved, urgent actions are needed in financial provision and risk identification policies. Therefore, the study suggests that local authorities should be more committed to risk identification and risk financing approaches to address the priority needs for effective disaster risk management in Guinea Savanna communities.