Reducing the Risk of Disasters - Helping to Achieve Sustainable Poverty Reduction in a Vulnerable World
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Material Information

Title:
Reducing the Risk of Disasters - Helping to Achieve Sustainable Poverty Reduction in a Vulnerable World
Creator:
United Kingdom’s Department for International Development (DFID)
Disaster Risk Reduction Program, Florida International University (DRR/FIU)
Publisher:
United Kingdom’s Department for International Development (DFID)
Publication Date:
Copyright Date:
2006
Language:
English

Subjects

Subjects / Keywords:
Risk management ( lcshac )
Disaster response and recovery ( lcshac )
Poverty ( lcshac )
Genre:
non-fiction ( marcgt )

Notes

Summary:
This policy paper underscores the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development’s (DFID) goal of integrating disaster risk reduction (DRR) into development planning and policymaking. It is written to provide direction to DFID staff, the UK government, and its development partners in their efforts to move towards sustainable development. The goal of DFID is to reduce the vulnerability of the poor to disaster, while protecting development gains from the impacts of hazards. DFID contends that there is an intimate link between poverty and disasters. While disasters are the product of the interaction of people and assets with hazards, the magnitude of a disaster is particularly related to a population’s level of vulnerability, often associated with the extent to which it is impoverished. Generally it is the poorest that have the least choice in deciding where to live, and thus end up in locations most exposed to significant physical hazards. It is also the poorest that have the least capacity to mitigate the impact of, respond to, or recover from disasters when they occur, often leaving the them in a vicious cycle of increasing poverty feeding increased vulnerability, and the converse. As the scale of disasters increase due to forces such as climate change, rapid population growth, and unplanned urbanization, the more the need for comprehensive policies that integrate poverty reduction and sustainable development becomes apparent. DFID calls for good governance, which from a DRR perspective entails the establishment of effective national disaster management agencies and strong coordination mechanisms, as well as efforts to deal with issues such as corruption and building code enforcement. DFID also points out the necessity of investing in risk identification, public awareness, and risk mitigation, as well as the establishment of risk sharing and risk transfer mechanisms. One of the critical reasons why DFID is promoting greater integration of DRR into its development assistance programs is the potential economic benefits of DRR to developing societies. Rather than being forced to shift resources from development programs and budgets during disasters to support relief efforts, DFID believes that investments in DRR facilitate sustainable development. While disasters have been estimated to cost anywhere between 2 to 15% of the GDP of the poorest developing countries, every dollar invested in DRR is estimated to provide a return of two to four dollars in avoided or reduced disaster impacts.
Subject:
General Risk Reduction
Citation/Reference:
(2006). Reducing the risk of disasters—helping to achieve sustainable poverty reduction in a vulnerable world: a DFID policy paper. 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:
FI13042660

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Aggregations:
Disaster Risk Reduction