Integrating Technology-Driven and Community-Centered Elderly Disaster Response Models: Lessons from Korea and Japan for Rwanda’s Demographic Transition

Abstract

This study aims to develop an elderly-focused disaster risk governance framework for Rwanda by comparatively analyzing Korea’s technology-driven and Japan’s community-centered disaster management systems. Using structured– focused comparison and qualitative content analysis, the research examines how strategies from super-aged societies can be adapted to late-transition contexts facing rapid demographic change. The findings highlight Korea’s cell-broadcast infrastructure for large-scale protective communication and Japan’s elderly-first evacuation protocols, welfare-capable shelters, and community assistance networks. A hybrid model is proposed that integrates national alerts with community-based support, supported by vulnerability registries, welfare shelter designations, and performance metrics such as coverage, response times, and assisted evacuations. The study contributes comparative design principles that combine technological systems and social capital and provides a transferability framework for institutionalizing age-attuned disaster governance in aging societies with infrastructural and fiscal constraints.