Disaster risk reduction refers to actions which aim at preventing new disaster risks, reducing existing disaster risks and managing residual risk, all of which contribute to strengthening resilience and achieving sustainable development.
It, therefore, entails identifying, assessing and reducing the risks of disaster and promotes sustainable development by enhancing the resilience of community members to disasters. Effectively, it decreases the vulnerability of community members by mitigating the effects of disasters, reducing severity and volume of risky events.
Disaster risk is about minimising the chances of potential loss of life, injury or damaged assets which could impact a society or community as a result of an interaction of hazards, vulnerability and exposure. When a hazard is not properly managed, it causes disaster. Therefore, reducing and managing conditions of hazard, exposure and vulnerability are key in preventing losses and ameliorating the impact of disasters.
To reduce vulnerability and exposure to hazards, one must identify and address, or manage, the underlying drivers of risk. These underlying drivers of risk include environmental degradation, climate change, poverty and inequality, poorly planned urban development and weak governance. The risk drivers create conditions of hazard, exposure and vulnerability. Therefore, addressing these underlying risk drivers will reduce disaster risk and lessen the impacts of disasters.
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Climate change modifies the frequency of weather-related hazards. It can also increase the intensity of weather-related hazards, leading to increased vulnerability, hence reducing the exposed populations’ ability to resist and recover from the impact of disasters. Climate change may also lead to new patterns of risks due to changes in the geographic distribution of weather-related hazards.
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Environmental degradation, which entails the reduction of the capacity of the environment to meet social and ecological objectives and needs, is both a disaster risk driver and a consequence of disasters. So, when the environment is degraded through, among other things, deforestation, opening up new gardens in fragile areas, clearing water catchment areas, the risk for disasters, such as floods, landslides, among others, in increased. Unfortunately, disasters also further degrade the environment.
Poverty and inequality are both a driver and consequence of disasters. Generally, the poor tend to suffer the most from disasters. Impoverished people are more likely to live in hazard-exposed areas but are also unable to meaningfully invest in risk reduction interventions. There are wide ranging impacts of disasters on the poor which include loss of life, injury, damage to property, loss of livelihoods, poor health, food insecurity, among other consequences.
Weak governance as a result of public sector actors’ inability or unwillingness to assume their roles and responsibilities in protecting rights, providing basic public services and ensuring efficiency and effectiveness in public sector management, is a disaster risk driver. Weak governance is linked to other risk drivers such as poverty and inequality. Therefore, an integrated systems approach to governance, with strong coordination across sectors and decentralised responsibilities to the local level, is key to reducing disaster risk.
It should be noted that besides addressing the drivers of disaster risks, measures focusing on prevention, mitigation, transfer and preparedness should also be given attention. Prevention focuses on activities and measures to avoid existing and new disaster risks, as this is less costly than response— a good example being relocating exposed communities.
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Mitigation, on the other hand, focuses on measures that lessen the adverse impacts of hazards and associated disasters through structural and non-structural interventions.
Transfer, on the other hand, is the process shifting the financial burden or consequences of particular risks from one party to another whereby a household, community or enterprise obtain resources from the other party after a disaster occurs.
Preparedness, which is the ability to effectively anticipate, respond to, and recover from the impacts of likely, imminent or current hazard events or conditions is also crucial in reducing disaster risks.
This may include installing early warning systems, identifying evacuation routes and preparing emergency supplies.
In summary, disaster risk reduction succeeds in building the strengths, attributes and resources available within a community, society or organisation to enhance its capacity. Effective disaster risk reduction must identify, analyse and address or manage the underlying drivers of disaster risks which include environmental degradation, climate change, poverty and inequality, poorly planned urban development and weak governance.
