ABSTRACT
Exemplary education that the future demands should foster a learning culture of belongingness and respect. Hence inclusivity in education is crucial, especially amidst the new risks such as digital inequality and digital power concentration. In light of the new normal in education with the emergency shift to an online setting following the Covid 19 outbreak, digital-based education for disaster risk reduction (DRR) too should be reimagined in a manner that no learner with vulnerabilities is excluded. Therefore, this article aims to investigate the current status quo of inclusivity aspects in online and distance disaster education and the benefits of online education to the DRR discipline. To achieve that aim expert interviews were conducted with 40 educators with experience in 13 countries. The key findings suggest that an online setting works best when it is scientifically designed for the right audience, right subject area and right mix. In creating inclusivity in DRR education the digital divide needs to be acknowledged and interactive learning should be looked at through a broader and more mature lens.
ABSTRACT
Introduction: Non-pharmaceutical interventions to facilitate response to the COVID-19 pandemic, a disease caused by novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, are urgently needed. Using the WHO health emergency and disaster risk management (health-EDRM) framework, behavioural measures for droplet-borne communicable disease, with their enabling and limiting factors at various implementation levels were evaluated. Sources of data: Keyword search was conducted in PubMed, Google Scholar, Embase, Medline, Science Direct, WHO and CDC online publication database. Using OCEBM as review criteria, 105 English-language articles, with ten bottom-up, non-pharmaceutical prevention measures, published between January 2000 and May 2020 were identified and examined. Areas of Agreement: Evidence-guided behavioural measures against COVID-19 transmission for global at-risk communities are identified. Area of Concern: Strong evidence-based systematic behavioural studies for COVID-19 prevention are lacking. Growing points: Very limited research publications are available for non-pharmaceutical interventions to facilitate pandemic response. Areas timely for research: Research with strong implementation feasibility that targets resource-poor settings with low baseline Health-EDRM capacity is urgently need.