This dissertation presents an analysis of the models of psychosocial processes structuring UNICEF’s psychosocial intervention after the emergency caused by the floods in Venezuela during 1999, and some of their political and ethical implications. I discuss how UNICEF’s intervention in the shelter of Fuerte Tiuna, in Caracas, provides a context in which discourses and practices construct the disaster as an event of a particular type, affording particular positions to those affected by it, and presenting the intervention as a reparative response that engages in different ways with these constructions. Specific issues explored by this dissertation include how practices and discourses construct the disaster and its impact on persons and communities; the nature of the psychosocial intervention; the subject; and the different forms of expertise involved in the intervention. Further, it examines how the intervention-as-designed is implemented and how the actual contact with the beneficiary population generates changes not only in the implementation itself, but also in the conceptual frameworks displayed by UNICEF. The analysis presents UNICEF’s psychosocial intervention as a practice that is simultaneously material and discursive. The participation of experts, the use of specific resources, the deployment of techniques and their devices, the organisation of time and space within the intervention, can all be considered as supporting certain notions of the disaster, its impact and its solution, which organise the models of the psychosocial. The main issues that appear as relevant for the analysis are related to the way in which the intervention constructs the disaster as a psychosocial problem; the appeal to the notion of trauma to explain the impact on those affected; the disciplinary, ethical and political implications of the different forms of understanding suffering in the Venezuelan contemporary context and how the notions put forward by UNICEF’s intervention engage with the social dynamics in Venezuela, in particular with the processes associated with the social and political polarisation.

Flooding is an important concern for the UK, as evidenced by the many extreme flooding events in the last decade. Improved flood risk intervention strategies are therefore highly desirable. The application of hydroinformatics tools, and optimisation algorithms in particular, which could provide guidance towards improved intervention strategies, is hindered by the necessity of performing flood modelling in the process of evaluating solutions. Flood modelling is a computationally demanding task; reducing its impact upon the optimisation process would therefore be a significant achievement and of considerable benefit to this research area. In this thesis sophisticated multi-objective optimisation algorithms have been utilised in combination with cutting-edge flood-risk assessment models to identify least-cost and most-benefit flood risk interventions that can be made on a drainage network. Software analysis and optimisation has improved the flood risk model performance. Additionally, artificial neural networks used as feature detectors have been employed as part of a novel development of an optimisation algorithm. This has alleviated the computational time-demands caused by using extremely complex models. The results from testing indicate that the developed algorithm with feature detectors outperforms (given limited computational resources available) a base multi-objective genetic algorithm. It does so in terms of both dominated hypervolume and a modified convergence metric, at each iteration. This indicates both that a shorter run of the algorithm produces a more optimal result than a similar length run of a chosen base algorithm, and also that a full run to complete convergence takes fewer iterations (and therefore less time) with the new algorithm.

Les aléas climatiques et environnementaux sont aujourd’hui au cœur des préoccupations et il est reconnu que les pays en développement et surtout ceux d’Afrique et d’Afrique subsaharienne sont les plus vulnérables à ces risques climatiques, mais sont paradoxalement les moins responsables du réchauffement climatique. L’adaptation de ces populations est ainsi primordiale, et peut prendre plusieurs formes dont la migration, qui, par ses retombées financières est une source non négligeable de fonds permettant aux ménages de faire face aux risques climatiques, aux désastres naturels, aux conflits et chocs d’autre type. Comparativement aux pays de la région ouest africaine tels que le Mali, le Sénégal ou le Nigéria, le Burkina Faso, n’a pas fait l’objet d’un grand nombre d’études sur le thème de la migration et les transferts de fonds. Le pays a cependant une histoire migratoire riche dans un contexte de fortes variabilités climatiques. Les conditions climatiques sont d’autant plus importantes dans ce pays que son économie est fortement ancrée dans l’agriculture.Les résultats du présent travail montrent que les transferts de fonds ont un impact sur la capacité des ménages à gérer les effets néfastes des aléas climatiques sur leurs conditions de vie, mais ils ont également leurs limites. Le premier chapitre cherche à évaluer l’impact des transferts et de la variabilité climatique sur la sécurité alimentaire des ménages Burkinabè. Nous proposons un indicateur de sécurité alimentaire prenant en compte les différents concepts de la sécurité alimentaire, et aussi un indicateur de variabilité interannuelle des précipitations. Après avoir contrôlé pour les problèmes d’endogénéité des transferts en utilisant des variables sur les caractéristiques démographiques des migrants et des variables de distance, nos résultats montrent que les transferts ont un impact positif sur la sécurité alimentaire, et trouvons le résultat inverse pour la variabilité des précipitations. Dans le deuxième chapitre, nous testons l’effet des transferts et des désastres naturels sur la pauvreté des ménages, représentée par un indicateur que nous construisons. Les résultats montrent l’effet négatif des transferts sur la pauvreté. De plus, une réinterprétation de l’indicateur montre que les ménages ayant subi des catastrophes naturelles par le passé sont plus à même de faire face à l’éventualité de futures catastrophes. Dans le dernier chapitre de ce travail, nous testons la capacité des ménages agricoles à diversifier leur portefeuille d’activité lorsqu’ils font face à des risques de sécheresse, et lorsqu’ils reçoivent des transferts. Les résultats montrent que les transferts ne sont pas, à eux seuls, suffisant pour permettre aux ménages de diversifier leurs activités. La diversification est toutefois possible lorsque le niveau de richesse des ménages est déjà élevé lorsqu’ils reçoivent les transferts. La présente recherche contribue à mettre en lumière l’importance des transferts dans la capacité d’adaptation des ménages qui font face à des risques climatiques. Les politiques nationales et internationales pouvant contribuer à un acheminement plus efficace et moins couteux de ces flux sont à encourager. Cependant, afin que ces transferts soient efficaces, ils doivent être accompagnés de politiques de réduction des inégalités afin de ne pas rendre les plus pauvres encore plus pauvres. Ils doivent être ainsi vus comme complémentaires et non substituts d’autres sources de revenus. / Environmental and climate issues constitute a predominant and much up to date topic in international discussions. It is broadly recognized that developing countries are the most vulnerable when it comes to climate issues, albeit, they are the least responsible. Finding ways for households’ of these countries to cope with the harmful effects of climate goes through the necessity to identify mechanisms that can help, such as migration and remittances. The latter have been found in the scientific literature to be a hedge against several shocks such as natural disasters, conflicts, and economic shocks.This research thesis explores the theme of remittances, and climate variability in developing countries, by focusing on a sub-Saharan African country, Burkina Faso. Compared to its neighbouring countries, Burkina Faso has not been subject to much research in the migration and remittances. The country however has a vast migration history that is worth studying. Climate issues are also rampant, and very important, as the country is practising subsistence agriculture. The findings of this dissertation show that remittances have a positive impact on households’ ability to cope with the negative effects of climate issues. Yet these important sources of inflows for developing countries might have some limitations. The first chapter assesses the impact of remittances and climate variability on the food security of households in Burkina Faso. We build a food security index using principal component analysis that encompasses the accessibility and utilization dimensions of the concept. We also compute an inter-annual rainfall index and the latter is found to have a negative impact on food security. After controlling for potential endogeneity issues using distance variables and migrant characteristics as instruments, remittances are found to enhance food security. Results are robust to alternative measures of food security and alternative calculations of rainfall variability. In Chapter two, we assess the impact of remittances and natural disasters on poverty in Burkina Faso. To do so, we construct a poverty index using household’s housing characteristics and Multiple Correspondence Analysis method. Propensity score matching method is used as an empirical strategy, and results show that remittances have a negative impact on poverty. Another important result is that remittances have a higher impact on the resilience of households, when they have experienced disasters in the past. Therefore, when it comes to natural disasters, these inflows act as an important tool for populations to be more resilient. Lastly in chapter 3, we assess the role of remittances and drought on diversification strategies of farm-households. This chapter uses the same database as chapter two, and also takes advantage of the climate database of the Climatic Research Unit (CRU) of University of Anglia . Results show that remittances by themselves are not sufficient to push households towards costly diversification strategies, and they need to be conditional to households’ wealth status to be effective. Climate conditions as well as soil properties have not surprisingly been found to significantly push households towards diversifying their income.This research sheds light on the undeniable importance of remittances in helping households to cope with harmful effects of climate, but also on its limitations. International and national policies that will contribute in a more efficient and less costly conveying of these inflows are to encourage. However in order for remittances to be efficient, reducing inequalities and poverty within populations is a necessity. Otherwise, they can contribute to dig further poverty gaps and extensively the vulnerably levels inside populations. Therefore, remittances should be seen as complementary to other sources of income, rather than substitute.