Living with Risk. A global review of disaster reduction initiatives

133 Pages·2004·6.36 MB·English

International Strategy
I S D R
for Disaster Reduction
Living with Risk
A global review of disaster reduction initiatives
2004 Version - Volume II Annexes
United Nations
Living with Risk
A global review of disaster reduction initiatives
2004 Version - Volume II Annexes
UNITED NATIONS
New York and Geneva, 2004
DISCLAIMER
The views expressed in this publication are those of the editorial team and do not necessarily
reflect the views of the Secretariat of the United Nations or the ISDR Secretariat.
The designations employed and the presentation of the material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion
whatsoever on the part of the Secretariat of the United Nations or the ISDR Secretariat concerning the legal status
of any country, territory, city or area, or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.
United Nations Inter-Agency Secretariat of the
International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UN/ISDR)
Palais des Nations
CH 1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland
Tel: [phone] / 2759
Fax: [phone]
Table of Contents
Annex 1
Terminology: Basic terms of disaster risk reduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1
Annex 2
Directory of international, regional, national and specialized organizations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9
Annex 3
United Nations system: An outline of activities dedicated to disaster risk reduction . . . . . . . . . .69
General Assembly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .71
Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .72
United Nations Secretariat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .72
Inter-agency mechanisms and common intiatives within the United Nations system . .76
United Nations agencies and programmes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .78
Annex 4
Selected international development agendas and commitments relevant to
disaster risk reduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .93
Millennium Development Goals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .94
Sustainable development agenda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .95
Climate change . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .97
Desertification and drought . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .100
Wetlands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .101
Freshwater agenda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .102
Gender agenda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .103
Habitat agenda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .104
Health . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .104
Small island developing states . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .106
Least developed countries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .106
Annex 5
Extracts from the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation (JPoI) of the World Summit on
Sustainable Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .109
Annex 6
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .115
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1
Terminology: Basic terms of
disaster risk reduction
1
Annex
Living with Risk:
A global review of disaster reduction initiatives
The ISDR Secretariat presents these basic definitions on disaster risk reduction in order to promote a common
understanding on this subject, for use by the public, authorities and practitioners. The terms are based on a
broad consideration of different international sources. This is a continuing effort to be reflected in future reviews,
responding to a need expressed in several international venues, regional discussions and national commentary.
Feedback from specialists and other practitioners to improve these definitions will be most welcome.
Acceptable risk Capacity building
The level of loss a society or community considers Efforts aimed to develop human skills or
acceptable given existing social, economic, societal infrastructures within a community or
political, cultural, technical and environmental organization needed to reduce the level of risk.
conditions.
In extended understanding, capacity building also
In engineering terms, acceptable risk is also used to includes development of institutional, financial,
assess structural and non-structural measures political and other resources, such as technology at
undertaken to reduce possible damage at a level which different levels and sectors of the society.
does not harm people and property, according to codes
or "accepted practice" based, among other issues, on a
known probability of hazard. Climate change
The climate of a place or region is changed if
over an extended period (typically decades or
Biological hazard longer) there is a statistically significant change
Processes of organic origin or those conveyed by in measurements of either the mean state or
biological vectors, including exposure to variability of the climate for that place or region.
pathogenic micro-organisms, toxins and bioactive
substances, which may cause the loss of life or Changes in climate may be due to natural processes
injury, property damage, social and economic or to persistent anthropogenic changes in atmosphere
disruption or environmental degradation. or in land use. Note that the definition of climate
change used in the United Nations Framework
Examples of biological hazards: outbreaks of epidemic Convention on Climate Change is more restricted, as
diseases, plant or animal contagion, insect plagues and it includes only those changes which are attributable
extensive infestations. directly or indirectly to human activity.
Building codes Coping capacity
Ordinances and regulations controlling the design, The means by which people or organizations
construction, materials, alteration and occupancy use available resources and abilities to face
of any structure to insure human safety and adverse consequences that could lead to a
welfare. Building codes include both technical and disaster.
functional standards.
In general, this involves managing resources, both in
normal times as well as during crises or adverse
Capacity conditions. The strengthening of coping capacities
A combination of all the strengths and resources usually builds resilience to withstand the effects of
available within a community, society or natural and human-induced hazards.
organization that can reduce the level of risk, or
the effects of a disaster.
Counter measures
Capacity may include physical, institutional, social or All measures taken to counter and reduce
economic means as well as skilled personal or collective disaster risk. They most commonly refer to
attributes such as leadership and management. engineering (structural) measures but can also
Capacity may also be described as capability. include non-structural measures and tools
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Annex
Terminology: Basic terms of disaster risk reduction 1
designed and employed to avoid or limit the • Application of measures including environmental
adverse impact of natural hazards and related management, land-use and urban planning,
environmental and technological disasters. protection of critical facilities, application of science
and technology, partnership and networking, and
financial instruments;
Disaster • Early warning systems including forecasting,
A serious disruption of the functioning of a dissemination of warnings, preparedness measures
community or a society causing widespread and reaction capacities.
human, material, economic or environmental
losses which exceed the ability of the affected
community or society to cope using its own Early warning
resources. The provision of timely and effective information,
through identified institutions, that allows
A disaster is a function of the risk process. It results individuals exposed to a hazard to take action to
from the combination of hazards, conditions of avoid or reduce their risk and prepare for effective
vulnerability and insufficient capacity or measures to response.
reduce the potential negative consequences of risk.
Early warning systems include a chain of concerns,
namely: understanding and mapping the hazard;
Disaster risk management monitoring and forecasting impending events; processing
The systematic process of using administrative and disseminating understandable warnings to political
decisions, organization, operational skills and authorities and the population, and undertaking
capacities to implement policies, strategies and appropriate and timely actions in response to the
coping capacities of the society and communities warnings.
to lessen the impacts of natural hazards and
related environmental and technological disasters.
This comprises all forms of activities, including Ecosystem
structural and non-structural measures to avoid A complex set of relationships of living organisms
(prevention) or to limit (mitigation and functioning as a unit and interacting with their
preparedness) adverse effects of hazards. physical environment.
The boundaries of what could be called an ecosystem
Disaster risk reduction (disaster reduction) are somewhat arbitrary, depending on the focus of
The conceptual framework of elements considered interest or study. Thus the extent of an ecosystem may
with the possibilities to minimize vulnerabilities range from very small spatial scales to, ultimately, the
and disaster risks throughout a society, to avoid entire Earth (IPCC, 2001).
(prevention) or to limit (mitigation and
preparedness) the adverse impacts of hazards,
within the broad context of sustainable El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO)
development. A complex interaction of the tropical Pacific
Ocean and the global atmosphere that results in
The disaster risk reduction framework is composed of irregularly occurring episodes of changed ocean
the following fields of action, as described in ISDR's and weather patterns in many parts of the world,
publication 2002 "Living with Risk: a global review often with significant impacts, such as altered
of disaster reduction initiatives", page 23: marine habitats, rainfall changes, floods, droughts,
and changes in storm patterns.
• Risk awareness and assessment including hazard
analysis and vulnerability/capacity analysis; The El Niño part of ENSO refers to the well-above-
• Knowledge development including education, average ocean temperatures along the coasts of Ecuador,
training, research and information; Peru and northern Chile and across the eastern
• Public commitment and institutional frameworks, equatorial Pacific Ocean, while the Southern
including organisational, policy, legislation and Oscillation refers to the associated global patterns of
community action; changed atmospheric pressure and rainfall. La Niña is
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Living with Risk:
A global review of disaster reduction initiatives
approximately the opposite condition to El Niño. Each El Geological hazard
Niño or La Niña episode usually lasts for several seasons. Natural earth processes or phenomena that
may cause the loss of life or injury, property
damage, social and economic disruption or
Emergency management environmental degradation.
The organization and management of resources and
responsibilities for dealing with all aspects of Geological hazard includes internal earth processes
emergencies, in particularly preparedness, response or tectonic origin, such as earthquakes, geological
and rehabilitation. fault activity, tsunamis, volcanic activity and
emissions as well as external processes such as mass
Emergency management involves plans, structures and movements: landslides, rockslides, rock falls or
arrangements established to engage the normal endeavours avalanches, surfaces collapses, expansive soils and
of government, voluntary and private agencies in a debris or mud flows.
comprehensive and coordinated way to respond to the
whole spectrum of emergency needs. This is also known as Geological hazards can be single, sequential or
disaster management. combined in their origin and effects.
Environmental impact assessment (EIA) Geographic information systems (GIS)
Studies undertaken in order to assess the effect on a Analysis that combine relational databases with
specified environment of the introduction of any new spatial interpretation and outputs often in form
factor, which may upset the current ecological of maps. A more elaborate definition is that of
balance. computer programmes for capturing, storing,
checking, integrating, analysing and displaying
EIA is a policy making tool that serves to provide data about the earth that is spatially
evidence and analysis of environmental impacts of referenced.
activities from conception to decision-making. It is utilised
extensively in national programming and for Geographical information systems are increasingly
international development assistance projects. An EIA being utilised for hazard and vulnerability
must include a detailed risk assessment and provide mapping and analysis, as well as for the
alternatives solutions or options. application of disaster risk management measures.
Environmental degradation Greenhouse gas (GHG)
The reduction of the capacity of the environment to A gas, such as water vapour, carbon dioxide,
meet social and ecological objectives, and needs. methane, chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and
hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs), that
Potential effects are varied and may contribute to an absorbs and re-emits infrared radiation,
increase in vulnerability and the frequency and intensity warming the earth's surface and contributing
of natural hazards. to climate change (UNEP, 1998).
Some examples: land degradation, deforestation,
desertification, wildland fires, loss of biodiversity, land, Hazard
water and air pollution, climate change, sea level rise A potentially damaging physical event,
and ozone depletion. phenomenon or human activity that may cause
the loss of life or injury, property damage,
social and economic disruption or
Forecast environmental degradation.
Definite statement or statistical estimate of the
occurrence of a future event (UNESCO, WMO). Hazards can include latent conditions that may
represent future threats and can have different
This term is used with different meanings in different origins: natural (geological, hydrometeorological
disciplines. and biological) or induced by human processes
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