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| Sunday, 23 June 2002 |
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Govt. NGOs to formulate disaster prevention programs by P. Krishnasamy " The Sri Lankan Government would join hands with local and international NGOs towards disaster prevention and relief measures in the country. Since disaster prevention is a better course than its management, the Government would welcome formulation of programs by NGOs aimed at that objective." This observation was made by Social Welfare Minister Ravindra Samaraweera, at the launch of the tenth annual " World Disaster Report" issued by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) last Wednesday at the Hotel Renuka. Minister Samaraweera was the chief guest at the launch sponsored by the Sri Lanka Red Cross Society (SLRCS) which is working under one umbrella with the IFRC and is in the forefront of disaster preparedness and relief activities in Sri Lanka. The SLRCS played a lead role early this year in providing relief to an estimated 1.6 million drought victims in the Hambantota district. The 400 page annual report of the IFRC reveals the following statistics: 442,459 Sri Lankans, representing 2.37 percent of the total population, were 'killed or affected' by disaster during the period 1991-2002. Afghanistan has the highest number of 'Internally displaced persons' (IDPs) in the South and Central Asian Region, at one million people in the year 2001, while Sri Lanka is second with a 800,000 figure for the corresponding period. India is third with a 507,000 figure. The report has mainly focused on the need to reduce the risk of disasters, how to go about it, the challenges faced, disaster preparedness, future climate changes, assessing vulnerabilities and capacities, accountability and disaster data (key trends and statistics). During the 1990s, an annual average of around 200 million people were affected by natural diasters - nearly three times higher than during the 1970s. Economic losses from such disasters in the 1990s averaged US $ 629 billion per year - nearly five times higher in real terms than the figure for 1970s, the report has observed. " Sea levels are projected to rise at the rate of 5mm per year over the next 100 years as a result of greenhouse gas-induced global warming and this poses by far, the greater threat to small island states relative to other countries", the report has warned. |
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