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- Permanent Link:
- http://dpanther.fiu.edu/dpService/dpPurlService/purl/FI13042658/00001
Notes
- Summary:
- This report seeks to address the links between poverty and disaster. It adopts a critical view of development, outlining the reasons why disaster risk reduction (DRR) has not been incorporated into sustainable development planning, and the consequences of this failure. While the development community still operates under an antiquated understanding of disasters as natural occurrences, DFID rejects this notion, placing the issue of human vulnerability at the forefront of the debate. Generally there is a strong relationship between poverty and vulnerability, with the poorest countries and communities often being the most exposed to hazards, least capable of coping with the impacts of disaster, and least able to recover after they have occurred. Empirical evidence shows that more than half of disaster deaths occur in low developed countries. Disasters play a critical role in encumbering development through their impacts on assets, physical infrastructure, economic productivity, livelihoods, food security, and the diversion of resources from development activities towards humanitarian relief. In fact, DFID contends that disasters can be both the direct result of development failures, as well as the product of poorly managed development processes. Often this is a result of failures and gaps in development governance. In the face of this understanding, DFID has established a committed belief that DRR is central to curbing disaster losses. By integrating DRR into development processes, DFID aims at transforming vicious cycles of failed development, increased vulnerabilities and risks, and growing disaster losses into virtuous cycles of reduced risks, increased capacity and resilience, as well as sustainable development. The report found that there has been a lack of attention to DRR strategies mainly for three reasons: 1) incentives that work against DRR strategies; 2) lack of exposure to disaster issues; and 3) the incorrect assumption that disaster risk would be automatically reduced by alleviating poverty. DRR is a long-term low profile process that does not attract as much media attention and commensurate donor support as disaster and humanitarian relief. Also, disasters are typically viewed as humanitarian issues and thus the preserve of disaster responders rather than development planners. DFID concludes with the following recommendations for bilateral donors to successfully integrate DRR into poverty reduction and development efforts: clearly-defined strategies, partnership agreements with agencies/governments, and international forums to create awareness of disaster risk reduction concerns and strategies.
- Subject:
- Development
- Subject:
- General Risk Reduction
- Citation/Reference:
- (2004). Disaster risk reduction: a development concern. United Kingdom’s Department for International Development (DFID).
Record Information
- Source Institution:
- Florida International University
- Rights Management:
- Refer to main document/publisher for use rights.
- Resource Identifier:
- FI13042658
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