The need for resilience
South East Asia the most disaster prone finds study:
The achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the
Asia-Pacific will depend largely on building greater resilience to
disasters but rising populations and burgeoning cities are exacerbating
existing risks and creating new ones.
By coming together in the spirit of cooperation can the region hope
to become truly disaster resilient, says the Asia-Pacific Disaster
Report 2015, the latest flagship publication of the UN Economic and
Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP).
A record 1,625 disasters struck the Asia-Pacific in 2005-2014,
killing around 500,000 people and harming another 1.4 billion, while
causing US$523 billion in economic damage. Many of the disasters were
transboundary in nature: cyclones, typhoons, floods and earthquakes.
South-East Asia was the most disaster-prone area.
“The recognition of disaster risk reduction as a central,
cross-cutting issue for achieving sustainable development in the region
aims to bring about a shift from response mechanisms to prevention and
preparedness as investment in disaster risk reduction has proven to be
cost effective,” Shamshad Akhtar, UN Undersecretary General and ESCAP
Executive Secretary, tells SciDev.Net.
“Identifying and quantifying the importance of disaster risk
reduction to development will raise awareness among planning and finance
ministries to ensure public funds are allocated to disaster risk
reduction in a more balanced way, rather than just response,” she says.
The report on “disasters without borders” comes in a pivotal year for
disaster management with the recent adoption of the SDGs that integrate
disaster risk reduction in sustainable development. This year also marks
the adoption of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction
2015-2030, which aims to guide the international community in
strengthening resilience to disasters.
Anisur Rahman, Senior Project Manager at the Asian Disaster
Preparedness Center, agrees that hazards are not limited by geographical
boundary as he calls for multi-country initiatives and risk assessments
at regional level to help reduce vulnerability.
“For example, information on rainfall pattern in Assam, India side,
can be a useful preparedness measure by neighbouring Bangladesh to
reduce the impacts of flash floods,” he told SciDev.Net. “Similarly,
sharing flood information across Mekong region countries helps for
better preparedness in the region.”
The report notes that multi-hazard early warning systems are powerful
tools to reduce disaster risk. But there are numerous gaps in early
warning chains at the local level and poorer nations cannot afford a
comprehensive warning system. Regional cooperation and the use of
effective communication channels like broadcast media are crucial to
provide timely information to the most vulnerable communities.
The report also stresses that information and communications
technology infrastructures should be planned and designed with disaster
management in mind. The report identifies drought as a “forgotten
disaster” that needs greater attention from media and policymakers.
Since 1970, drought has affected more than 1.6 billion people in the
region, causing an estimated US$53 billion in damage. Poor water and
land management and climate change accelerate drought risk, impacting
many sectors.
- SciDevNet
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