International day for Disaster Reduction 2018 Reducing economic losses from disasters has the power to transform lives

#IDDR2018 #ResilienceForAll

International Day for Disaster Reduction, held every 13 October, celebrates how people and communities around the world are reducing their exposure to disasters. For 25 years the United Nations General Assembly centers its efforts for this day through the Sendai Seven Framework for disaster reduction and Sendai Seven Campaign, to focus on the impact that disasters have on people's lives and well-being and also how people have an impact on disaster reduction.

 

This year, 2018, the celebration of the International Day for Disaster Reduction focuses on target c  of the Sendai Seven Framework: Reduce direct disaster economic loss in relation to global gross domestic product (GDP) by 2030 and it also conveys the message that disasters have a human cost and reducing economic losses from disasters can transform lives.

 

What does economic loss and Disaster reduction have to do with each other? Disaster risk and economic losses from disasters as a proportion of GDP are disproportionately concentrated in lower income countries with weak governance, and in Small Island Developing States, where risks are magnified by climate change.

 

This is shown by statistics held by The United Nations (UN), were the results show that there are two billion people worldwide that are vulnerable to disasters, – 61% of the world's employed population – who earn their living in the informal sector.  In all, 93% of the world's informal employment is in low and middle-income countries and 740 million are women. In addition, 767 million people live below the international poverty line of $1.90 a day.

That is why it is so important to be aware that investment in disaster risk reduction and prevention generally represents a large saving in terms of avoided losses and reconstruction costs with cost benefit ratios ranging from 3:1 to 15:1 or higher in some cases.

The Sendai Seven Campaign is an opportunity for governments, local governments, UN agencies and all stakeholders including the private sector, science and technology partners, community groups, civil society organisations, international organisations, to promote and advertise good practice at international, regional and national level across all sectors, to reduce disaster risk and disaster losses.

 

The success of this year's International Day depends on engagement and connection with a wide range of stakeholders in order to promote awareness of disaster prevention and the need to switch emphasis from managing disasters to managing disaster risk as outlined in the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction.

 

This year's target is directly linked with priority number three on the Sendai Framework: Investing in disaster risk reduction for resilience, which states that public and private investment in disaster risk prevention and reduction through structural and non-structural measures are essential to enhance the economic, social, health and cultural resilience of persons, communities, countries and their assets, as well as the environment.

 

Main Objectives:

• Promote and encourage events at national and community level to mark implementation of the Sendai Framework; • Highlight the impact of economic losses from disasters on efforts to achieve sustainable development; • Highlight the consequences for social expenditure in low and middle income countries of the rise in extreme weather events; • Profile the impact of economic and others losses in at least one country per region; • Launch a report analysing disaster trends, human impact and economic losses;

 

The six indicators adopted on the Sendai Seven Campaign for 2018 and target (C):

- Direct economic loss attributed to disasters in relation to global gross domestic product (Compound Indicator). - Direct agricultural loss attributed to disasters. - Direct economic loss to all other damaged or destroyed productive assets attributed to disasters. - Direct economic loss in the housing sector attributed to disasters. - Direct economic loss resulting from damaged or destroyed critical infrastructure attributed to disasters. - Direct economic loss to cultural heritage damaged or destroyed attributed to disasters.

 

What are the Key Messages for 2018?

- If it's not risk informed, it's not sustainable, and if it's not sustainable it has a human cost. - Disasters are gateways to poverty and distress for many vulnerable people living in low and middle-income countries. - Increasing exposure of people and economic assets has been the major cause of long-term increases in economic loss from disasters and shows that the economic incentives for location in many hazard-prone areas continue to outweigh the perceived disaster risks; - While absolute economic loss is concentrated in higher income countries, in relative terms it is a far greater problem for low-income countries; - Expressed as a proportion of social expenditure, expected annual losses in low-income countries are five times higher than in high-income countries; - The countries with the greatest need to invest in social development are those most challenged by disaster risk; - Investment in disaster risk reduction generally represents a large saving in terms of avoided losses and reconstruction costs with cost benefit ratios ranging from 3:1 to 15:1 or higher in some cases; - Integrating disaster risk reduction into investment decisions is the most cost-effective way to reduce risk; - Investing in disaster risk reduction is a precondition for developing sustainably in a changing climate; - If risk reduction can be included explicitly in national development and climate adaptation plans and budgets, all parts of government are then able to programme risk reduction actions and investments;

 

 

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