Assessing institutional capacities for flood disaster risk reduction

Floods are the most frequent and devastating natural disasters in the Asian region. Their impact has grown in spite of our improved ability to monitor and describe them. This paper presents a framework for assessing institutional capacities for flood disaster risk reduction by discussing the following questions: When is flood a disaster? Who and what should be at risk? Who is or should be responsible? How were risks of disaster changed? And, how was performance evaluated? The article suggests that a moderately systematic approach to diagnosis of institutionalised capacities and practices in flood disaster management is feasible and will yield practical insights.