Integrating disaster reduction into development: recommendations for policy-makers

Content:

There has been a rapid escalation in the incidence of severe disaster events in recent decades. Total reported global costs have risen 15-fold over the past five decades, while numbers of people affected tripled between the 1970s and 1990s. Rising losses and associated increases in expenditure on post-disaster reconstruction have forced the issue of natural hazard risk managementup the policy agenda of affected governments as well as multilateral and bilateral donors and non-governmental organisations (NGOs). Disasters are increasingly recognised as a potential threat to sustainable development, poverty reduction initiatives and the achievement of a number of the Millennium Development Goals.
Despite this, many development and humanitarian organisations remain reluctant to pursue risk reduction as a key objective, or even to protect their own projects against potential hazards. Ironically, it may not cost a great deal to incorporate appropriate risk management measures into development projects. Moreover, as a new ProVention study concludes, many of the standard tools already used in designing projects could also be used to assess risks emanating from natural hazards and benefits of potential mitigation options. This policy brief outlines recommendations for integrating assessment of natural hazard related risks in project design, appraisal and evaluation.

Author:

Benson C, Twigg J

Organisation:

International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent societies / ProVention

Details:

0.1MB, pdf

Language:

English