Towards local disaster risk reduction in developing countries: Challenges from Jordan

Therefore, this inquiry investigates the current status of disaster risk reduction in a local Jordanian municipality to understand the current limitations facing this approach. Such an investigation will help in understanding the challenges facing local governments in non-capital cities of the region. The study provides several recommendations for initiating disaster risk reduction on the local level, stressing that the political culture and governance style in the region creates many obstacles. Further, the limited capability of local governments, the serious social and economic problems, and misleading natural disaster cognition create handicaps should the approach be implemented. The legal opaqueness in identification of jurisdictions and responsibilities compounded by the status quo of high dependency on the central government, in addition to fixation on a para-military approach to disaster management calls for reassessment of disaster management policies and related laws in Jordan.