ABSTRACT Climate‐induced flood risks pose a major challenge to sustainable development in Pakistan, particularly in the highly vulnerable province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Recurrent flood events continue to undermine social, economic, and environmental systems, highlighting persistent difficulties in translating the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (SFDRR) into effective, context‐sensitive practice. This study examines the implementation barriers and enabling conditions for operationalizing the SFDRR in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, situating provincial experiences within broader Global South sustainability challenges. Despite the global prominence of the SFDRR, limited empirical research has examined how its priorities are translated into operational disaster risk reduction practices at sub‐national governance levels in highly flood‐prone regions of the Global South. A qualitative research design was employed, drawing on 24 semi‐structured key informant interviews conducted between January and March 2025, guided by the four priorities of the SFDRR, which served as predefined analytical categories while allowing context‐specific sub‐themes to emerge inductively, and non‐participant field observations focused on flood‐prone areas, preparedness activities, and institutional coordination, triangulated with interview data. Participants were purposively selected based on their institutional roles, professional experience in disaster risk reduction, and direct involvement in flood management and disaster preparedness, drawing representatives from government institutions. Interviews were conducted until thematic saturation was reached. Data were analyzed using directed content analysis structured around the four SFDRR priorities, supported by methodological triangulation, independent coding, audit trails, and Lincoln and Guba's trustworthiness framework. Findings reveal that institutional fragmentation and weak inter‐agency coordination are the primary barriers, dynamically interacting with other constraints—including limited human and fiscal capacity, gaps in community engagement, and insufficient private‐sector participation—to create cascading vulnerabilities across flood‐affected communities. The study further identifies context‐specific enabling conditions and interdependent barriers unique to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, offering a synthesized analytical framework that links institutional, technical, financial, and social constraints including gaps in Incident Command Structures, specialized training, and social network management for disaster communication and provides actionable guidance for prevention‐oriented, locally embedded disaster risk reduction. The study concludes that advancing flood resilience in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa requires a transition from reactive disaster response toward prevention‐oriented, institutionally embedded DRR aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals. (SDG 4.7, SDG 6.6, SDG 9.1, SDG 9.5, SDG 9.C, SDG 11.5, SDG 11.b, SDG 13.1, SDG 13.3, SDG 15.1, SDG 16.6, SDG 16.7, SDG 17.3, SDG 17.6, SDG 17.16, SDG 17.17). Policy implications emphasize integrated risk governance, sustained capacity building, resilient financing mechanisms, incentives for private sector engagement, coordinated response systems, and responsible digital communication to strengthen long‐term disaster resilience and sustainable development.
Shah et al. (Sun,) studied this question.