Earthquake Preparedness News, 6 2. International Strategy for Disaster Reduction. Yokohama strategy and plan of action for a safer world. Disability in conflict and emergency situations: Focus on Tsunami-affected areas. Klein, R. Environmental vulnerability assessment. If you have a disability, the forces of nature can be meaner to you than anyone else.
Mainstream, November Liverman, D. Vulnerability to global environmental change. Kasperson, D. Dow, D. Kasperson Eds. Worcester, MA: Clark University. Mashni, A. Multi-agency evaluation of Tsunami response: Thailand and Indonesia. Climate change Impacts, adaptation and vulnerability. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. McClain-Nhlapo, C. Terror wave: Tsunami and disability. Disability World. Identifying and mapping community vulnerability. Disasters, 23 1 , Mudur, G. Aid agencies ignored special needs of elderly people after tsunami.
British Medical Journal, , National Organization on Disability. Washington DC: Author. Nobody Left Behind. Lessons learned from the World Trade Center disaster: emergency preparedness for people with disabilities in New York. The politics of disablement. Basingstoke: Macmillan. Oosters, B. Looking with a disability lens at the disaster caused by the Tsunami in South- East Asia.
Brussels: CBM International. Priestley, M. Constructions and creations: Idealism, materialism and disability theory. Disability and disaster recovery: A tale of two cities? Journal of Social Work in Disability and Rehabilitation. Rawal, V. Multi-agency evaluation of Tsunami response: India and Sri Lanka. High powered committee on disaster management: Report on women, children, aged and challenged in disasters.
Government of India. From disaster to sustainable community planning and development: The Kobe Experiences. Disaster Prevention and Management, 28 1 , Smith, K. Environmental hazards: Assessing risk and reducing disaster 3rd ed. Sri Lanka Department of Census and Statistics. Preliminary report 2: Census of buildings and persons affected by the Tsunami Child vision survey identifies five thousand disabled in East. Vulnerability, resilience and the collapse of society.
Travis, J. Hurricane Katrina - Scientists' fears come true as hurricane floods New Orleans. Living with Risk: A global review of disaster reduction initiatives. Geneva: Author. The San Francisco Bay Area The Los Angeles Area Minimizing Earthquake Damage Types of Structural Damage Earthquake Preparedness Land-Use Planning and Building Codes Bay Earthquakes, and Haiti Earthquake, January 12, Copyright Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part.
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
Tsunami Generation Earthquake-Generated Tsunami Tsunami Generated by Volcanic Eruptions Tsunami from Fast-Moving Landslides or Rockfalls Tsunami from Volcano Flank Collapse Tsunami from Asteroid Impact Tsunami Movement Tsunami on Shore Coastal Effects Tsunami Hazard Mitigation Tsunami Warnings Surviving a Tsunami Future Giant Tsunami Survival Guide Japan, March Chapter Review Introduction to Volcanoes: Generation of Magmas Magma Properties and Volcanic Behavior Tectonic Environments of Volcanoes Spreading Zones Volcanic Eruptions and Products Nonexplosive Eruptions: Lava Flows Explosive Eruptions: Pyroclastic Materials Styles of Explosive Eruptions Types of Volcanoes Shield Volcanoes Stratovolcanoes Giant Continental Calderas Deadly Plinian Eruption and Lahar—Mt.
Pinatubo, Philippines,. Volcanic Hazards Pyroclastic Flows and Surges Ash and Pumice Falls Volcanic Mudflows Gas Outbursts and Poisonous Gases Predicting Volcanic Eruptions Examining Ancient Eruptions Eruption Warnings: Volcanic Precursors Mitigation of Damage Controlling Lava Flows Warning of Mudflows Vesuvius and Its Neighbors The Cascades of Western North America Volcanic Precursors—Mt. Helens Eruption, Washington,.
Catastrophic Pyroclastic Flow—Mt. Vesuvius, Italy,. Downslope Movements Forces on a Slope Slope and Load Frictional Resistance and Cohesion Slope Material Moisture Content Internal Surfaces Clays and Slope Failure Causes of Landslides Oversteepening and Overloading Overlapping Causes Jan 14th, Unlimited all-in-one ebooks in one place.
Free trial account for registered user. Recent Comments of Natural Hazards and Disasters. Brittney I dislike writing reviews on books I had a hard time putting it down. Secondly, these efforts should be geared to strengthen local resilience and community coping strategies - and reinforced by international organisations ISDR The emphasis is now turning from reducing social and economic vulnerability through investment in mitigation activities to more integrated approaches focusing on strengthening community resilience to disasters.
The new approaches are consistent with wider changes in development practice that stress good governance, accountability and advocacy of bottom-up approaches as the basis for sustainable poverty reduction Yodmani The four goals of the strategy are to: 1.
Increase public awareness about disaster reduction. To obtain commitment from public authorities. To stimulate interdisciplinary and inter-sectoral partnerships. To improve the scientific knowledge of the causes of natural disasters and the consequences of the impact of natural disasters. The Inter-Agency Secretariat of the ISDR in Geneva is responsible for coordinating disaster reduction strategies and programmes and serves as facilitator among partners.
The declaration states that disasters have a tremendous detrimental impact on efforts at all levels to eradicate global poverty and thus the impact of disasters remains a significant challenge to sustainable development. It emphasises the need to involve all stakeholders, including governments, regional and international organisations and financial institutions, civil society, including non- governmental organisations and volunteers, the private sector and the scientific community UN The priorities are further elaborated in the Framework of Action.
Disaster reduction policies and institutional mechanisms do exist at various degrees of completeness in African countries. However, their effectiveness is limited, hence the need for a strategic approach to improving and enhancing their effectiveness and efficiency by emphasizing disaster reduction. A baseline study was initially carried out concluded that development was at risk from disasters mainly because of gaps in the following areas: institutional frameworks; risk identification; knowledge management; governance; and emergency response.
The strategy builds on existing disaster reduction institutions and programmes available in African countries and in the Regional Economic Communities RECs , and aims to mainstream them into development so that they can better contribute to disaster reduction.
Strengthening and expanding the existing practices and mechanisms for disaster reduction will not adequately address the disaster risk problem in Africa: what is required is a transformation of the basic mindset and practices of national authorities; the disaster reduction community; the public and development partners regarding the reduction of disaster risks. Since changing mindsets often is a rather slow maturation process, the Strategy will adopt a longer-time approach.
The strategy is comprehensive in that it takes into account the need to reduce disaster risks sustainably, including those induced by conflicts. Complex humanitarian emergencies arising from conflicts exacerbate the effects of natural hazards, such as famine and epidemics.
This is because they increase the vulnerability status of populations and ecosystems already stressed, thereby worsening the level of disaster risks. In turn, the type, onset and intensity of conflicts are also influenced by natural hazards, particularly environmental hazards. Therefore, both issues need to be integrated in disaster reduction interventions. Actions aimed at reducing risk should address the social factors that determine vulnerability as well as changes in the political environment that could increase the resilience of communities.
The inter-relatedness between the various dimensions is illustrated by figure 5. Figure 5. Source: info. An integrative and target-oriented approach is believed to provide the best basis for tackling the threats posed by disasters.
Setting targets for risk reduction helps to promote political will and resources. Such targets should be specific, time-bound targets for disaster reduction, with clear responsibilities and measurable commitments; others should focus on processes that would allow stakeholders to meet their targets or to establish common standards.
Targets could be set by governments, communities, NGOs and donors, to include: reducing numbers killed and affected by disasters; implementing disaster plans; training response teams; establishing early warning and evacuation systems; protecting essential infrastructure; reversing environmental degradation; devoting a percentage of relief funds to disaster mitigation and preparedness www.
The strengthening of local institutions and education of political leaders and decision makers about vulnerability and risk are examples of such possibilities. The goal is to make people prepared to handle future events in such a way that they do not become disasters.
Searching for opportunities will have to involve innovative thinking and considering new untraditional means to strengthen community resilience to natural hazards. One example is the use of micro-credit facilities. Micro-credit is a useful tool for poverty reduction, but its potential to reduce the impact of disasters needs to be further explored ISDR www.
It can do much to help empower those with little or no access to traditional financial institutions, thereby reducing disaster risk and improving disaster reduction. By diversifying the income of high-risk populations and promoting disaster insurance, microfinance can strengthen coping mechanisms before disasters, while hastening recovery afterwards.
Microfinance cannot, however, provide standalone protection against disasters. It must be part of a greater strategy of disaster reduction. They define the authorities, responsibilities and roles of officials and organisations, establish legal authority for organisations and programmes, and sometimes create organisations and co- ordination mechanisms. They may dictate or encourage relevant policies, practices and processes. In recent years, many countries have moved their disaster reduction agenda forward through progressive legislative reform, often as a result of a major disaster.
The growing adoption of rights-based approaches by humanitarian and development organisations worldwide may also stimulate positive legislative change. There has been some discussion about the application of the rights-based approach to disaster reduction. It can be linked to several basic and accepted political, social, economic and cultural rights i.
Several national constitutions already contain provisions that support the right to safety, sometimes expressed as the right to an environment that is healthy and safe www. Although the willingness of governments to undertake legislative reform is an important indicator of political commitment to disaster reduction, the road of legal reform is not easy. Legal reform processes have proven to be lengthy. New laws and regulations have to be consistent with existing ones applying to this and other areas of public life.
In some countries, particularly those in political and economic transition, an additional concern is the sheer number of laws and decrees that have been passed, making it difficult to get a clear overview and often leading to contradictory legislation. Furthermore, enacted legislation frequently lacks enforcement. Failure to enforce official building codes and standards, for example, was a contributory factor to the high loss of life in the earthquakes in Turkey in The main reasons for this include the limited resources and capacities available, unclear designation of responsibilities for enforcement, the lack of incentives and disincentives including penalties to promote the application of disaster reduction and reduction measures, and the inadequacy of implementation guidelines www.
Policies and legislative measures are, however, often weakened by the absence of adequate means of carrying them out. For this, appropriate institutional frameworks and arrangements are needed. These comprise all organizations or institutions with a recognized role to play in disaster reduction, the mechanisms for co-ordination between them, their human resources, funding, equipment and supplies, leadership and effectiveness.
Successful nodal agencies facilitate a coherent approach to disaster reduction and provide a framework for coordinated action. But it is vitally important that such agencies demonstrate leadership and professional competence, and earn the confidence and support of stakeholders at all levels.
In practice, such calibre and commitment are often lacking. Governance is the exercise of authority by society to manage its affairs in the economic, political and social spheres hence it cuts across all aspects of development, including the environment, climate change, health, poverty and economic planning. However, it must be kept in mind that the environment and the threat of hazards are constantly changing. Therefore, governance in all its dimensions must be forward-looking to anticipate changes, new conditions and uncertainty.
The capacity of governance structures and systems to adapt and respond to rapid significant change — in particular, to the disaster risk implications of rapid urbanization and climate change — requires much more analysis and debate www. There are many examples of good governance in relation to disaster reduction from all parts of the world.
It is a common lesson that risk management must be rooted in the core principles of good governance: equity, participation, pluralism, partnership, subsidiarity, transparency, accountability, the rule of law, effectiveness, efficiency, responsiveness and sustainability. Appropriate institutional and policy frameworks for risk reduction are essential to minimize human, material and environmental losses from disasters, limit the disruption they cause to socio-economic systems and generally reduce vulnerability to them.
As such, good or weak governance can be seen as one of the fundamental factors influencing disaster risk www. There is widespread a drive towards decentralization of government authority and responsibilities.
Based on the principle of co-responsibility for vital functions, tasks should be transferred to the lowest institutional or social level that is capable of completing them. Decentralization empowers local levels with a sense of ownership and fosters participation.
Where local governments are put in charge of implementing government policies and programmes, decentralization serves as a vehicle for mainstreaming disaster reduction at local level and reaching communities more effectively.
Decentralization coupled with multi-stakeholder participation creates a more inclusive atmosphere and leads to greater community participation; decisions are also more accountable if made locally. It has facilitated effective counter-disaster partnerships in many countries, notably the Philippines, which underwent extensive decentralization in here, local government is gaining capacity and becoming more committed to disaster reduction, and its relations with civil society in local-level disaster reduction are growing stronger www.
Whilst decentralization has been an asset in many contexts, especially where central government lacks capacity to act for whatever reason, the appropriateness of this model must be judged in the context of the local organizational and administrative culture.
Decentralization can lead to disaster reduction becoming isolated from mainstream government decision-making. Collaboration between different sectors and levels of administrative and operational responsibility is crucial if disaster reduction activity is not to become fragmented. The scale of some major disasters can overwhelm the resources available at local levels.
Local-level actors cannot address all the structural causes of vulnerability: they have neither the jurisdiction nor the power to tackle the deeper political, social and macro-economic forces that put people at risk. Disaster reduction therefore requires robust and sustained linkages to be established between local and national levels www.
The uncertainty of a disaster, if or when it will strike, makes it easy for governments to give less priority to disaster reduction, especially in face of scattered interest groups.
Undoubtedly, the lack of political commitment and funding mechanisms underlie many communities vulnerable to hazards. The international and regional organisations could play a decisive role in advocacy and creating awareness. In addition, proper monitoring and measuring mechanisms have to be established to document the positive effects of disaster reduction. Awareness and knowledge creation targeting politicians and decision-makers, as well as building political pressure from below based and civil society initiatives, political lobbying etc.
An important key to leverage the interest may be to demonstrate the benefits of investing in disaster reduction. There are many cases where cost-effectiveness appears to have been convincingly demonstrated. Yet a more systematic approach to appraising costs and benefits of risk reduction activities is urgently required www. Furthermore, disaster reduction should be promoted as an integral part of development policies in fighting poverty. In policy terms this means that poverty reduction can help reduce disaster risk, but this requires a proactive focus on addressing such risk rather than seeing it as just another constraint to work within.
Dealing with disasters is always a challenge for decision-makers, and swift and immediate response brings popular approval to political leaders. Political systems therefore recognize the need for strong intervention following a disaster, which is reflected in the considerable resources allocated to emergency assistance. There is still a major challenge to increase the focus on disaster reduction as a central element of ongoing development funding and programming, or in other words to use existing development resources in a manner which reduces risks by addressing the underlying causes of vulnerability.
Despite the many calls for mainstreaming disaster reduction into development planning, budgetary allocations to such work in national or international financial instruments remain extremely limited. Decisions about the allocation of limited development and relief resources are frequently influenced by political considerations rather than the real needs of marginalized populations.
Ultimately, such failings also undermine the legitimacy of the organizations concerned. Moreover, funds allocated to disaster reduction may not be identified as such, especially where disaster reduction is integrated into other sectors.
For example, strengthening hospital and school structures to withstand particular hazard risks is likely to be included within health and education sector budgets, and the amounts spent specifically on hazard-resistant features will probably be hidden within overall capital and building costs.
This makes monitoring of the allocation and use of resources very difficult www. It is, however, important to be aware of possible pitfalls. Recent studies suggest that governments and donors tend to fund disaster relief and rehabilitation by reallocating resources from development programmes.
Although the impact of any such reallocation is difficult to measure as it is unrecognised in official figures, it can be expected to affect the poor disproportionately through adverse effects on poverty reduction efforts www.
A considerable incentive for rethinking disaster risk as an integral part of the development process comes from the aim of achieving the Millennium Dedevlopment Goals MDGs.
Furthermore, the Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers PRSPs as coherent guidelines for national development planning offers a tool for enhancing the place of equity for poverty and vulnerability reduction in development.
All policy alternatives should ensure that every aspect of development contributes to identifying, managing and reducing disaster risk rather than generating new risks. IWRM, for example, should take account of climate variability and expand the capacity to identify trends, manage risks and adapt to hazards such as floods and droughts.
Anticipation and prevention are more effective and less expensive than having to react to emergencies. Early warning systems should become an integral part of water resources development and planning Bonn Recommendations for Action As a consequence, there is a call for alternative and more sustainable risk management approaches. The report argues that steps forward need to be scheduled as a period of smooth transition from current integrated management to pragmatic and straightforward risk-based management.
In such a context, the relevance of community based approaches to disaster reduction is being recognized www.
Communities have an important role to play in disaster reduction, as they are the source of local knowledge and resources. Community leaders are in a good position to lead the disaster reduction process and in incorporating local knowledge. Community-based approaches to disaster mitigation lead to more accurate definition of problems and solutions, because they draw on local expertise in living with disasters.
A number of guidelines have been developed for community based disaster reduction. Most of the guidelines are based on step-wise procedures starting with drawing up a baseline assessment of vulnerability status and possible threats and proceeding with collecting information i. Assistance by experts is often required, at least in the initial phases, involving training and capacity building.
For example in the Pacific Islands, villagers are taught to assess their own vulnerabilities and capacities IFRC They are encouraged to draw maps of their local community, identifying vulnerable locations i. They also map resources such as strong buildings to use as evacuation centres.
Islanders are trained to set up disaster preparedness committees and plans, and receive first-aid training. Most of the community based initiatives underpin holistic management, involving a broad number of issues that altogether influence upon resilience towards disasters. At the community level this implies addressing all the factors that determine the coping capacity and ultimately the community sustainability, such as the environmental quality, the economic vitality, social equity etc.
Source: ISDR The main weakness of community-based initiatives might be their limited outreach. Scaling up to achieve greater impacts, i.
In that respect, mechanisms for sharing of knowledge and experiences between communities are important. For example, in the Fiji islands, before cyclones, the population prepare containers of food and water, cut down overhanging branches, erect windbreaks and lash their houses to trees.
One non-governmental organization in Fiji communicates preparedness messages through community theatre — a method rooted in the way that islanders learn their history, through songs, dance, rituals and legends handed down from one generation to the next.
Measures to include the role of indigenous people are i. Women play a primary role in providing assistance to the family and the community in prevention activities as well as during disasters.
They are disproportionately affected by disasters and face targeted gender- based violence and exploitation in the aftermath of disasters. Women are often left out of planning for the response and therefore the special needs of women and girls are not met —or met as an afterthought. The special talents and skills of women are not capitalized upon —wasting a valuable resource www. But these efforts are not well-known nor are they integrated into mainstream disaster reduction programs www.
In recognition of the importance of gender and disaster reduction, participants from 28 countries met at the East-West Centre in Honolulu in August to develop a strategy for incorporating gender-fair practices in disaster reduction.
Risk reduction strategies therefore have to take into consideration the complex and varied nature of vulnerability of poor communities. It is at the local level that the physical, economic and social factors can be best assessed and managed Yodmani Risk reduction strategies for the poor should capitalize on and nurture the social, cultural and political and attitudinal capabilities of the poor. Existing local mechanisms for managing risk should be identified and strengthened.
Efforts targeted at developing economic resilience in poor communities should be integrated with overall disaster management at the local level. An example is local access to credit for risk reduction activities that could be channelled through already established village councils. Micro- financing of self-employment activities could be linked with requirements for reasonable safety levels in the workplace through retrofitting that ensure that economic well-being is sustainable.
Mechanisms that can help transfer risk from the informal sector of the economy could be explored. State supported crop insurance for small and marginal farmers could help share the risks they face over a wider sector of society. Information is crucial: it may be the only form of disaster preparedness that the poorest people can afford IFRC It is about giving the right information, so that those at risk can take greater control of their own lives.
This requires information strategies that are based on consultation and communication with the target groups, including the poor. In some countries, public awareness campaigns, i. Informal networks and the media can also play an important role in disseminating and targeting information. Radio in particular is a very accessible medium for poor people — especially women in their homes. For example, the government must ensure that the Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers take disaster risk and environmental sustainability into account.
Other national policies related to development, especially in relation to the primary sectors i. Environmental conditions may exacerbate the impact of a disaster, and vice versa, disasters tend to have an impact on the environment. On the other hand, disasters can have large-scale impacts on the environment, both through direct effects on the ecology, but also through breakdown of important infrastructure, such as sewerage systems.
The high volume of wastes from disasters, from households and debris from forests and rivers, also constitute a major concern for proper disposal.
Although the inherent links between disaster reduction and environmental management are recognized, little research has been undertaken on the subject.
The general lack of empirical work and scientific analysis poses a barrier for the development of knowledge- based policies and strategies for mitigation UNEP Furthermore, the concept of using environmental tools for disaster reduction has not yet been widely applied by many practitioners. Such tools include i. Environmental management institutions that include monitoring components could also play a role in alerting local community members and decision makers to changing hazard risk www.
The linkages between poverty and environmental degradation are already well documented. Less well understood is the role of environmental management in supporting local coping strategies.
An illustrating example: in the aftermath of disaster, communities in Cambodia relied on fishery resources for subsistence and supplemental income. Poor fisheries management however has led to increased pressure on the resources by outsiders, and in the aftermath of disaster even more people turn to these resources. As a result, the viability of fishing as a coping strategy is jeopardized by inadequate environmental management capacities.
Weak institutions are often cited as another cause of vulnerability. Thus, there is a clear need to reinforce the importance of environmental concerns in the entire disaster reduction cycle of prevention, preparedness, assessment, mitigation and response and to integrate environmental concerns into planning for relief, rehabilitation, reconstruction and development.
This will also require the enhancement of capacities to undertake short and medium-term activities in disaster reduction based on long-term environmental considerations UNEP In many cases, there may be critical components of a nation's infrastructure that remain at risk.
Insurance mechanisms are used to transfer risks that cannot be mitigated through structural or ex-ante damage reduction measures, and against events that have the potential to cause large economic losses. These include standard insurance and reinsurance contracts as well as the creation of contingency funds to build up economic and fiscal resilience in the face of natural hazards www.
It should be recognised as an evolutionary, incremental and step-wise process, where focus changes according to the needs. Hence, the setting of goals and targets will have to take into account the time scale.
0コメント