Disaster Risk Reduction in AfricaWaters, Winds and Fires

A UNDP-ECHO Knowledge Sharing Event on Disaster Risk Reduction

Johannesburg, 25-26th March

Dr Katharine Vincentkatharine.vincent@gmail.com

Why do we need to consider DRR?

Between 1991 and 2005: • 3,470 million people were affected by disasters• 960,000 people died• Economic losses were $1,193 billionBetween 1998-2007:• 76% of all disaster events were hydrological,

meteorological or climatological in nature:• They accounted for 45% of the deaths and 79% of

the economic losses caused by natural hazards

DRM vs DRR (Holloway, 2003)

Climate change adaptation and DRR – different histories

Climate change adaptation

• Climate-related hazards• Origin in scientific theory• Future perspective• Traditional focus on

physical exposure• Theoretical application at

local level

Disaster risk reduction

• All hazards• Origin in humanitarian

assistance• Historical perspective• Traditional focus on

vulnerability reduction• Practical application at local

level

The future - will they converge or remain distinct?

Risk

• Def: the likelihood of a detrimental outcome as a result of a particular hazard

• RISK = HAZARD + VULNERABILITY• Expressed in terms of probability• Risk is a daily occurrence• Needs to be viewed in context:– Environmental risk– Social risk– Historical risk

Evolution of approaches to vulnerability –1. Natural Hazards

• 1970s and 1980s– Move away from the assumption that disasters are

‘caused’ simply by external natural events and that disasters are ‘normal’.

• Positivist approach: objective studying of hazards• Vulnerability refers to risk of exposure of an

ecosystem to a hazard, “biophysical vulnerability”• top-down approach that assumes humans are

passive recipients of environmental change

Evolution of approaches to vulnerability 2.Human/Political Ecology Approach• Arose out of dissatisfaction with the natural

hazards approach • Addresses political and structural causes of

vulnerability in society• Attempts to explain why the poor and

marginalised have been most at risk from natural hazards

• Emphasises the role of economic development in adapting to changing external risk– Class structure, governance and economic

dependency

Pressure and release model

Why I think they should converge:• We are often talking about the same

phenomena, just using different terms• You cannot adapt to climate change without DRR• DRR adds a lot of insights to how to adapt to

incremental change• Focus for convergence should be vulnerability

risk assessment and vulnerability reduction• Climate change adaptation is the current “sexy

topic” – funding is available and it is high on the political agenda

But even if they don’t, DRR must consider the effects of climate

change...

Disaster reduction policies and measures need to be implemented with a two-fold aim:

• To enable societies to be resilient to natural hazards

• To ensure that development efforts do not increase vulnerability to those hazards

(UNISDR, 2004)