Desastres durante una década:
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Material Information

Title:
Desastres durante una década: Lecciones y avances conceptuales y prácticos en América Latina (1990-1999)
Creator:
Lavell, Allan
Disaster Risk Reduction Program, Florida International University (DRR/FIU) ( summary contributor )
Publisher:
Red de Estudios Sociales en Prevención de Desastres en América Latina (LA RED)
Publication Date:
Copyright Date:
2000
Language:
Spanish
English

Subjects

Subjects / Keywords:
Risk management -- Latin America ( lcshac )
International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction ( lcshac )
Genre:
non-fiction ( marcgt )
Spatial Coverage:
Latin America

Notes

Summary:
This paper adopts a critical view of efforts to implement disaster risk reduction (DRR) strategies throughout Latin America during the 1990s, hailed as the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction (IDNDR) by the United Nations. This assessment is framed within the context of the end of this decade. Although there have been a few effective measures in some areas, in general, little effort has been made to significantly reduce vulnerability and risk to disasters throughout the region. Nevertheless, there have been significant improvements in the field of disaster research in terms of the knowledge base, as well as the development of new conceptual and theoretical frameworks. Mentioning a varied list of disasters that affected the Latin America region during the 1990s, the document places particular emphasis on Hurricane Mitch in 1998, which affected four countries in Central America (Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala). The devastating impact of this disaster led to significant critiques of the disaster field as it stood. One of the issues that came to the forefront during this period of dialogue and debate was the poverty-vulnerability-disaster cycle. Increasingly attention was focused on how downward spirals of poverty produce increases in vulnerability, and how these play a central role in determining the scale of disaster events. Processes of environmental degradation such as deforestation and poor basin management were also highlighted as contributing to disaster risks during this period. For the author, the key question remains whether or not a less vulnerable society with better management of its natural and built environment would have been as affected by Hurricane Mitch? This question has no easy answer and leads us to a terrain of counterfactuals and uncertainty. Rather than address this question directly, the author calls for modifying patterns of vulnerability based on structural poverty and social exclusion through development policies that emphasize economic growth that is equitable and political process that incorporate the most marginalized members of society. ( English )
Subject:
General Risk Management
Scope and Content:
INTRODUCCION p. 1; DESASTRES EN LA REGIÓN: 1990-1999 p. 2; DEBATES, CONCEPTOS Y CONSECUENCIAS PRÁCTICAS p. 6; LO IMPREDECIBLE DE LOS EVENTOS Y EL CONOCIMIENTO SOBRE LAS AMENAZAS p. 20; LA RESPUESTA GUBERNAMENTAL p. 23; LOS SUMINISTROS DE EMERGENCIA p. 24; LA VULNERABILIDAD ESTRUCTURAL Y LA DEPENDENCIA p. 25; CONCLUSIONES p. 30; BIBLIOGRAFÍA p. 32 ( Spanish )
Citation/Reference:
Lavell, A. (2000). Desastres durante una década: lecciones y avances conceptuales y prácticos en América Latina (1990-1999). Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales (FLACSO), Red de Estudios Sociales en Prevención de Desastres en América Latina (LA RED).

Record Information

Source Institution:
Florida International University
Rights Management:
Refer to main document/publisher for use rights.
Resource Identifier:
FI13042579

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Disaster Risk Reduction