Paper short abstract:

As climate change takes toll on the health and well-being of the urban poor, campaigns for coherent actions to address the impact are gaining solidarity globally. Yet, at local level, policies to address these vulnerabilities remain fragmented and less inclusive.

Paper long abstract:

Climate change has become a visible threat to the world particularly the poor and most vulnerable. With the accelerated speed of urbanization, poor urban residents are becoming increasingly vulnerable to climate change impacts due largely to poor housing, inadequate infrastructures and the loss of livelihoods which exacerbates health risks. However, state response to climate disasters in most low-income countries is still ad-hoc, and often fail to address the core drivers of vulnerabilities faced in poor informal settlements.

In this paper, we present a contextual outlook of policy and response to climate change hazards and disaster response. We argue that while Sierra Leone has variously been identified as one of the most exposed to climatic hazards, policy responses have remained fragmented and less inclusive. Institutional planning processes around climate change adaptation across government sectors remains disjointed and with limited frameworks for sectoral collaboration. Across sectors, response to climate related vulnerabilities is more reactive, and are yet to provide sustainable and inclusive response. This has implications for the health and wellbeing of the urban poor living in informal settlements. We conclude that if climate risks are to be mitigated, policy processes must be inclusive, coordinated and intersectoral to address the risks faced by the most poor and vulnerable.