Between Hope and Hype: Civil Society Organisations in Disaster Risk Reduction – A Systematic Global Review and Future Research Agenda

Despite the central role attributed to civil society organisations (CSOs) in disaster risk reduction (DRR) and within the all-of-society approach of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030 (SFDRR), the post-SFDRR evidence base has not been systematically assessed in terms of how CSO roles are conceptualised, operationalised and evaluated across hazards, disaster phases and governance contexts. Here, we provide a systematic global review of 265 peer-reviewed studies published between 2015 and 2025 that examine CSO engagement before, during and after rapid-onset natural hazards across 46 countries. The review reveals a structurally uneven knowledge landscape. Evidence production is shaped more by research capacity than by hazard exposure, while most studies (86%) rely on broad umbrella terms or highly contextual classifications without specifying clear CSO typologies. At the same time, positive framings of CSO engagement prevail (82.6%). Reported CSO roles concentrate on a service–connector–implementation core, closely aligned with post-event response (68.7%) and recovery (63.8%), whereas mitigation, prevention and accountability functions remain weakly evidenced. Methodologically, the literature is dominated by qualitative, interview-based designs, with nearly half of the studies lacking any formal evaluation and most remaining assessments being narrative. We argue that a next phase of CSO research in DRR depends on greater conceptual precision, methodological integration and comparative designs that causally link civil society actions, governance conditions and disaster risk outcomes, thereby informing robust operationalisations of the all-of-society approach.