Regional Workshop on Total Disaster Risk Management

7-9 August 2002________________________________________________________________________________________________

Enabling Environment Required for Adoption of
Total Disaster Risk Management Approach in Disaster-Prone Countries
Mr. Salvano Briceño
Director, International Strategy of Disaster Reduction (ISDR) Secretariat, Geneva,
Switzerland

Introduction: ISDR in essence1:-

Basic history: IDNDR (1990-1999), Yokohama Conference (1994),
Potsdam Conference on Early Warning (1998), Guayaquil Conference on
El Niño (1998), UN GA resolutions (2000 & 2002) establishing &confirming respectively ISDR based on 2 mechanisms: Inter-Agency
Secretariat (UN/ISDR) and Task Force for Disaster Reduction (IATF/DR).

-

ISDR’s mission is to develop a culture of prevention and build resilient
societies and communities by promoting increased awareness of theimportance of disaster reduction as an integral component of sustainable
development. The objective is the reduction of human, social, economic
andenvironmental

lossesdue

tonaturalhazards

andrelatedtechnological and environmental disasters.
-

This mission needs to be undertaken by involving progressively all
relevant institutions and experts, in various sectors, that are interested in
the subject. It also needs to be based on values and criteria that aredeveloped further below.

-

Main functions of the ISDR Secretariat are to serve as an international
clearing-house for exchange of relevant information on the subject andto provide policy and technical advice through its network of experts andfocal points. It is to increase public awareness, training and education, todevelopacultureofprevention

collaboration and partnerships

1

and

to

facilitate

inter-agency

Regional Workshop on Total Disaster Risk Management

7-9 August 2002________________________________________________________________________________________________-The involvement of civil society representatives is essential to ensure thecommunity development purpose of the ISDR. In this regard, NGOs
contributed greatly to the work of the IDNDR and some continue toparticipate actively in ISDR through membership in the IATF/DR or

through specific collaboration with the ISDR Secretariat, these are mainly
NGOs of an international nature and they include academic and scientificinstitutions, private sector and professional and expert institutions.
-

At present, ISDR Secretariat is working closely with organizations such as
IUCN, ICSU, Global Fire Monitoring Centre, Munich Reinsurance, as well as
those of a regional nature such as ADRC, ADPC, OAS, AU, etc. In somecountries more than others, NGOs are actively involved in the work ofnational platforms for disaster reduction. This is the case in Germany,
Switzerland, France, Italy or the United Kingdom but also in developing
countries like Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Philippines, South Africa andsome countries in Latin America and the Caribbean.

-

Among the NGO community, the academic and scientific institutions playa key role as they are the main sources for development of knowledge insociety. Given the extensive and increasing amount of institutions
interested in disaster reduction, we are gradually evolving towards a
wider forum for consultation, discussion and exchange of information.
In this regard, we are envisaging to take advantage of the ten-year reviewof the Yokohama Conference of 1994, coming up in 2003 and 2004, toconvene thematic and regional forums to mobilize and discuss policy andtechnical guidance on the matter, building specific partnerships andprovide specific assistance to organizations working on disaster

reduction. Although the personal contact is and will always be essential,
we are also planning to develop a substantive interaction by electronicmeans and to mobilise support and participation in important initiatives
in each of the fields where disaster reduction is required.
-

In 2003, opportunities to build specific partnerships will be provided by
the five-year review of the 1998 Potsdam Conference on Early Warningand the Guayaquil Conference on El Niño, also of 1998. These reviews2

Regional Workshop on Total Disaster Risk Management

7-9 August 2002________________________________________________________________________________________________and partnerships are being planned with the assistance of theGovernments of Ecuador and Germany, OCHA, UNDP, UNEP, WMO, WorldBank and a number of academic, regional and sub-regional entities (CAF,
CAN, IADB, IRI of Columbia University, Potsdam research centres, etc.)
Main aspects and issues of disaster reduction-

Disaster reduction aims at enhancing and supporting a wide variety ofactivities. Some are related to disaster management, others are not.
Disaster prevention, mitigation and preparedness are intimately relatedwith disaster management and therefore require the active and effective
participation of disaster management institutions and experts. However,vulnerability and risk reduction management go beyond disastermanagement and include the tasks of urban, rural and land-use planners,
educators, scientists and researchers, psychologists, lawyers, economists,architects, sociologists, engineers, agronomists, health professionals, etc.
They are not necessarily related with disaster preparedness, response or
recovery needs (see page 21 and 23 of Global Review)-

Specific legislation and policies leading to programmes and projects
addressing risk and vulnerability reduction are required. However risk
and vulnerability reduction need tobeintegrated

asessential

components of programmes in the fields of combating poverty,
addressing climate change or urban sustainable development. These are
not the responsibility of disaster or emergency managers, however theymust be fully aware and contribute to them. Other skills and capacities
are required.
-

The task of reducing risk and vulnerability to natural hazards is of

long-term nature thus needing a progressive approach, involving
gradually interested institutions and connecting short-term objectives
and activities with medium and longer-term goals.

-

It addresses all sectors of society as no single sector can do it alone,
government, business, academic, scientific and technical institutions,3Regional Workshop on Total Disaster Risk Management

7-9 August 2002________________________________________________________________________________________________

NGOs, CBOs, media, schools, etc., and at all levels, from local tointernational. Therefore, specific platforms or networks need to be
developed to include in a participatory manner, all these sectors, atnational as well as local levels.
-

Even though community development needs to be at the front of thedisaster reduction effort, the human, social, economic and environmental
consequences of disasters usually affect the wider society. Generally thisis both nationally and globally. Thus it requires investments that go
beyond the amounts required for preparedness, response and recovery
surrounding a disaster strike. They require integrated policies at global
as well as national and local levels.

-

A current general estimate indicates that most of the investments madein disaster management, go to relief and response activities. Only a very
tiny part goes to enhancing prevention and risk reduction. This is mostly
in developed countries. It is therefore urgent that a process be set toreverse this trend by reducing the increasing cost of relief efforts (withthe negative dependency consequences that they bring along) and ensurethat more resources can be allocated to development needs.

-

This can only be achieved by a combined effort of humanitarian anddevelopment agencies. This includes in the latter those that invest not
only

in

the

overalldevelopment,

environment

andsustainable

development projects but also those working on specific sectors, health,agriculture, education, etc. It is also imperative to include risk reductionin their priorities. This will reverse the existing trend in investments indevelopment projects, avoid the continuous repetition of mistakes andreproduction, and sometimes increase the vulnerabilities and risks
associated. This could be achieved by starting with a strong partnership

between the departments managing humanitarian contributions andthosemanaging

investmentsindevelopment

andenvironment

programmes in the bilateral and multilateral donor agencies.
-

This need becomes even more acute when we realize that the expanding

4Regional Workshop on Total Disaster Risk Management

7-9 August 2002________________________________________________________________________________________________

urban population, the increase in poverty, the environmental degradationand the expected climate change will only increase the vulnerabilities andthus the intensity and frequency of disasters for many years to come.
Two reports launched recently dramatically underline this reality. The

UNCTAD report on the Least Developed Countries which shows thatpoverty and dependency have only increased, and the IFRC World
Disasters Report which this year focuses on Reducing Risk and also
shows the formidable threats posed by the increasing vulnerabilities tonatural hazards. I strongly recommend reading and comparing these tworeports with the ISDR Global Review coming out this week.
-

It is therefore essential that while improving and enhancing preparedness,
response/relief and recovery/reconstruction/rehabilitation measures,
attention be increasingly paid also to the reduction of the vulnerabilities
and risks that are at the heart of the disasters.

-

This can only be effective if done in a concerted and participatory manner
aiming at clear and specific long-term objectives, and with a strong
political priority given by communities and local and national authorities.

-

Developing an enabling environment for risk management and a cultureof prevention aims at addressing some of the most important obstacles
for sustainable development (ignorance and greed being among the mainones). It aims also at giving preponderance to values such as respect,tolerance and solidarity over competitiveness, individualism anddefensiveness/aggressiveness.

Unfortunately,

theincreasing

liberalization and market orientation of our modern societies areperceived to be rather promoting the latter values and attitudes.
-

Therefore, the most important sector to be addressed is education.

It isin the school curricula as well as in extra-curricular activities that thesevalues and attitudes need to be developed by each society andcommunity. The role of media (cinema, TV, radio, press and the internet)
is of course, essential as it also shapes behaviour of individuals andcommunities.

5Regional Workshop on Total Disaster Risk Management

7-9 August 2002________________________________________________________________________________________________-

Role of ISDR: the ISDR was created as an instrument to assist in thisprocess and jointly with partners, the ISDR Secretariat is embarked in aplanning process to identify and develop specific long-term objectives
with recommendations and guidelines to all sectors in society and at alllevels, which we expect to achieve by the year 2004 to coincide with theten-year review of the Yokohama Conference of 1994.
-

Meanwhile, short-term objectives for 2002-2003 that will set the groundfor the longer-term process include:•

Development of an on-going process to review, measure, assess
and monitor disaster reduction initiatives around the world,
starting with the preliminary version of the Global Review
published this week, which is the first report on the subject;•

The mainstreaming of disaster reduction in main global agendas,
namely:

the

World

Summiton

Sustainable

Development(Johannesburg, August 2002) and its programme of action (seebackground document on links between disaster reduction andsustainable development which has gradually been improved
during the WSSD process). Other main agendas include: theMillennium Road Map, Poverty reduction programmes of WorldBank and UNDP, the human settlements-Habitat agenda and thenegotiations on climate change and desertification conventions
and protocols;•

The strengthening of the IATF/DR to become an increasingly
recognized and important forum for discussion and inter-agency
collaboration at the international level;•

The development of regional and national outreach programmes
jointly with partners; and•The strengthening of the clearinghouse function to enable the ISDR
to become a truly global strategy that all those concerned with6

Regional Workshop on Total Disaster Risk Management

7-9 August 2002________________________________________________________________________________________________

disaster reduction can use as a platform for cooperation.
Main obstacles to be addressed to enable risk management to become an
integral part of sustainable development policies, programmes and projects incountries and communities in disaster prone-areas-

Lack of awareness and ignorance on the relevance of the subject which
does not allow for communities to put pressure on political and economic
leaders who thus focus their attention on other priorities and theshort-term.

-

Lack of clear long-term objectives as part of sustainable developmentthat could be agreed upon as an over-arching priority for the nation orcommunity and that would motivate opposing political constituencies inany given society to join efforts above other conflicting differences.

-

Incomplete or short-sighted vision of many multilateral and bilateralprogrammes that fail either to identify specific (quantifiable andmeasurable) long-term goals or to connect short-term investments withmedium and longer–term objectives. A general vision does not substitutefor specific long-term objectives and short-term activities do notnecessarily build into medium or longer term processes. Often, ill advised
and misdirected development practices increase the risk to disasters.

-

Competition for resources and protagonism due mostly to ignorance or
short-sighted vision (of both recipient and donor agencies). These canonly be overcome by developing leadership and strong partnerships
among donor and recipient agencies and between humanitarian,development, environment and other sectors. These partnerships would

facilitate attracting greater resources; they would allow for visibility for all
and at the same time be able to address more effectively the long-term
needs. A pilot project could be envisaged in this regard with the aim ofproviding lessons for a wider programme.
-

Lack of understanding that real partnerships go far beyond signing a MoU

7

Regional Workshop on Total Disaster Risk Management

7-9 August 2002________________________________________________________________________________________________or entering into a formal agreement and require constantly sharing of
knowledge and resources, as well as achievements and failures.
Partnerships depend on the same basic resource: people; and it ispeople’s skills, strengths and shortcomings that either will help to solve a
problem

or

that

will

createeven

more

problems.

Therefore,

understanding people as well as their values, attitudes and behaviour, arealso essential components of disaster reduction and response strategies
and programmes.
-

Lack of understanding that partnerships with long-term objectives in thisfield require appropriate leadership and management and that building ateam requires spending time on the team building process in the firstplace.

Main elements for an enabling environment for reducing risk and vulnerability
to natural hazards(See Chapter 7 of Global Review for more detail)-

Increasing the widespread understanding of risk management, the natureof hazards (hazard assessment) and the vulnerabilities present inindividuals and communities (vulnerability assessment).

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Bringing the ecological sphere into disaster risk reduction andunderstanding environmental degradation.

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Recognizing disaster risk reduction primarily as national and local
responsibilities: increasing the political will and the participation of civilsociety in policy and decision-making and continue developing efforts todecentralize risk management.

-

Enhancing policy development and integration, ensuring consistent
approaches to common problems, integrating risk management inland-use, urban and rural planning.

8Regional Workshop on Total Disaster Risk Management

7-9 August 2002________________________________________________________________________________________________-

Increasing education, training and awareness along with information
networking and research for production of knowledge and technologies.

-

Expanding partnerships at national as well as local levels, in particularwith the private sector that has much to contribute and to benefit from
integrating risk management.

-

Development of specific methodologies, preferably addressing risk with amulti-hazard approach.

-Measurement of progress, setting benchmarks or targets and indicators
and assessing progress periodically, to extract lessons for improving
management and policy-making.

‘Living with Risk, a global review of disaster reduction initiatives’
Recommended sections with elements for developing an enabling environment
for the risk reduction management:-

Chapter 1,-

Chapter 3,-

Chapter 7-

Tables and graphs in pages 21, 23, 44, 150

It is also recommended you read the Foreword, Introduction and Preface.
A good summary was included in the kit prepared for the press.
The Global Review can be found in its entirety on the websites of ISDR:
www.unisdr.org and www.eird.org .
It is also available in CD-Rom upon request to the ISDR Secretariat.
A few hard copies are available for those who are interested in providing

feedback (comments, amendments or additions) for the preparation of a fullversion planned for the end of 2002.

9