Disaster risk reduction
DRR policies aim to "define goals and objectives across different timescales and with concrete targets, indicators and time frames.
[5] The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction is an international initiative that has helped 123 countries adopt both federal and local DRR strategies (as of 2022).
[2]: 16 Disaster risk is the potential loss of life, injury, or destroyed or damaged assets that could impact a society or community.
It is generally understood to mean the broad development and application of policies, strategies, and practices to minimize vulnerabilities and disaster risks throughout society.
[10] Alternatively, the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR) defines resilience as “the ability of a system, community or society exposed to hazards to resist, absorb, accommodate to and recover from the effects of a hazard in a timely and efficient manner, including through the preservation and restoration of its essential basic structures and functions.”[11] Use of the term resilience in this context has evolved over time and across science, humanities, legal and political disciplines.
Professor David Alexander points out that there are complications and contradictions to be aware of if using it as a model or paradigm in the context of disaster risk reduction.
[12] According to the UNISDR, vulnerabilities are "the characteristics and circumstances of a community, system or asset that make it susceptible to the damaging effects of a hazard.
[19] The Sendai Framework places the responsibility of reducing disaster risk primarily on federal governments through seven targets divided into two categories: substantial reductions and increases.
[22] The United Nations General Assembly designated October 13th as the International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction (IDDRR) to encourage citizens and governments alike to foster more disaster-resilient communities.
The 2023 IDDRR used the tagline "Fighting Inequality for a Resilient Future" and hashtags #ResilienceForAll, #BreakTheCycle, and #DDRDay to spread awareness on social media.
[27] DRR is applicable and relevant to several of the Sustainable Development Goals:[27] Traditional emergency management thinking makes two misleading assumptions about communities.
Spontaneous actions by affected communities or groups (e.g., search and rescue) are viewed as irrelevant or disruptive, because they are not controlled by the authorities.
The second assumption is that disasters produce passive 'victims' who are overwhelmed by crisis or dysfunctional behavior (panic, looting, self-seeking activities) and need to be controlled — in some cases, through the imposition of martial law.
[37] In many contexts, especially South of the Sahara, this process clashes with the lack of funds or mechanisms for transferring resources from the central to the local budget.
[4] This is due to socially-constructed gender roles that determine what norms and behaviors are acceptable for women and men, and girls and boys.
A gender-sensitive approach would identify how disasters affect men, women, boys and girls differently and shape policy that addresses people's specific vulnerabilities, concerns and needs.
Disaster risks are expected to significantly increase in future and may have cascading economic impacts, including on the financial system and repayment of national debts.
Other barriers include complex application processes and strict eligibility requirements that hamper access to international funding.
Moreover, only a very small percentage, around 0.5%, of total international development aid is currently spent on the pre-disaster phase of disaster risk reduction.
[41] The Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR) is a multi-donor partnership supporting low and middle-income countries in managing paired risks of natural hazards and climate change.
For example, GFDRR supported Maputo, Mozambique to develop detailed vulnerability maps to inform government funding decisions.
[45] There have been growing calls for greater clarity about components of DRR and about indicators of progress toward resilience — a challenge that the international community took up at the UN's World Conference on Disaster Reduction (WCDR) in Kobe, Japan, in 2005, only days after the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake.
The WCDR began the process of pushing international agencies and national governments beyond the vague rhetoric of most policy statements and toward setting clear targets and commitments for DRR.
The UN's biennial Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction[46] provided an opportunity for the UN and its member states to review progress against the Hyogo Framework.
The United Nations' Secretary-General had been tasked with overseeing research into the relationship between disasters and development, and in 1987 reported that there was room for improvement from the international community.
Federal governments were encouraged to participate in the decade, formulate national mitigation programs, create scientific committees, encourage local action, inform the Secretary-General of their actions, increase public awareness, monitor the impact of disasters on health care, and improve availability of emergency supplies.
[52] In addition to providing funding to humanitarian aid, the European Commission's Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (DG-ECHO) is in charge of the EU Civil Protection Mechanism[53] to coordinate the response to disasters in Europe and beyond and contributes to at least 75% of the transport and/or operational costs of deployments.
The Mechanism was set up to enable coordinated assistance from the participating states to victims of natural and man-made disasters in Europe and elsewhere.
The HMFB uses a project identification diagram to realise each issue and a selection matrix to match that problem with an effective solution using duration, feasibility, design, and environmental considerations.
[55] FEMA's Mitigation Directorate[56] is responsible for programs that take action before a disaster, in order to identify risks and reduce injuries, loss of property, and recovery time.
