Indicators of DRM (IDB) is the most definitive work to contribute to the field of DRR since Living With Risk: A Global View of Disaster Reduction Initiatives (ISDR) and The Global Report: Reducing Disaster Risk, A Challenge for Development (UNDP). It is the “first systematic and consistent international technique to measure risk management performance” (p. 34). It arises from a compilation of responses from experts in the fields of economics, politics, the environmental sciences and DRM. This approach covers a variety of aspects that would have been overlooked if left to one contributor. The indicators have divided into four groups. The Disaster Deficit Index covered the economic losses that would occur given a catastrophic event and resources that could be used to address these losses. The Local Disaster Index addressed the degree to which a state would experience frequent local level disasters and their effect on local development. The Prevalent Vulnerability Index examines exposure, fragility and lack of resilience and the Risk Management Index considers all the phases of DRM – Risk Identification, Risk Reduction and Transfer and Disaster Management. The separation of the Disaster Deficit Index from the Risk Management Index could lead to multicollinearity of results. Indicators for coverage for economic losses are equivalent to those associated with risk transfer and financial protection. The author also disaggregated these indices to determine Urban and Subnational indicators. This proved unnecessary. Why separate subnational indicators from urban indicators, given that urban areas are subnational divisions? In addition, the author used the above indices to rate Latin American and Caribbean states on their performance in DRR between the years 1980 to 2000. While there are some weaknesses in the determining some the indicators, the indices effectively integrate qualitative and quantitative measures. The standardization that these indicators bring provides the foundation for developing predicative scientific theory. Such a theory is necessary for the success of DRR worldwide.
General Risk Management
General Risk Reduction
Acknowledgements p.1 ; Prologue p. 3; Introduction p. 5; DDI - Disaster Deficit Index p. 9; LDI - Local Disaster Index p. 13; PVI - Prevalent Vulnerability Index p. 16; RMI - Risk Management Index p. 21; Indicators at sub-national level p. 27; Indicators at urban level p. 31; Next steps: a regional assessment program, based on indicators, for the Americas p. 37; References p. 39