BCPR | Natural Disaster

Natural Disaster Risk Reduction

The 21st Century has already been marked by escalating economic losses and human devastation caused by natural disasters. In 2006 alone, 426 disasters occurred in 108 countries, affecting 143 million people and causing US$34.6 billion in economic losses. Disasters exact an enormous toll not only on lives, but also on livelihoods, homes, basic social services and community infrastructure. Moreover, the destruction typically has a disproportionate impact on the poorest and most vulnerable populations including women, children, youth and the elderly.

Both large-scale and localized recurrent disasters associated with natural hazards erode development gains and compromise a country’s prospects for achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Disaster reduction efforts not only minimize losses but also encourage development and promote achievement of MDG targets. Disaster reduction promotes better health and education by protecting important infrastructure such as schools and hospitals, poverty reduction by protecting economic activities and assets, and gender equality by empowering women in disaster recovery and reduction initiatives.

Disaster risks need to be effectively managed as an integral part of development. This entails understanding and identifying the risk factors that cause disasters such as the exposure and vulnerabilities of society to natural hazards. High-risk countries need the capacity to put in place effective measures to reduce these risks, such as early warning systems, building codes or disaster sensitive local development plans. The rush for growth can trigger haphazard urban development that increases the risk of large-scale fatalities during an earthquake. Trends such as increasing human settlement and investment in high-risk coastal areas are placing greater numbers of people and economic assets in danger of being affected by cyclones, storm surges and flooding, especially given the prospect of climate change.

In order to make informed development choices, national actors and local communities need disaster risk reduction knowledge and capabilities. UNDP supports national counterparts to develop both a disaster risk perspective and the human, financial, technical and legislative capacity; civil society preparedness; and coordination systems required to effectively manage and reduce risk.