Disaster Risk management

1. A hazard in itself is not a disaster.

2. It has the potential to become one when it happens to populations
who have certain vulnerabilities and insufficient capacity to respond
to it.
The potential or probability of a hazard becoming a disaster is called
risk.

3. Disaster risk reduction / disaster risk management
is about avoiding these risks (prevention) or limiting them
(preparedness / mitigation), by focusing on a population’s
vulnerabilities and capacities.

4. Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA) - areas of focus:
1. Make disaster risk reduction a priority
 Ensure that disaster risk reduction is a national and a local priority with a strong
institutional basis for implementation.
2. Know the risks and take action
 Identify, assess, and monitor disaster risks – and enhance early warning.
3. Build understanding and awareness
 Use knowledge, innovation, and education to build a culture of safety and
resilience at all levels.
4. Reduce the underlying risk factors (vulnerabilities and exposure)
5. Strengthen disaster preparedness for effective response at all levels
by focusing on a population’s vulnerabilities and capacities.

5. Role ISDR, UNDP, OCHA and CADRI
ISDR
 The coordination body for the implementation of overall disaster risk
reduction policy in accordance with the Hyogo Framework for Action
 Core function: advocacy for disaster risk reduction; international
clearinghouse for information on disaster reduction strategies
UNDP
 Support the implementation of disaster risk reduction policy at the country-
level
 Core function: building national capacities for disaster risk management;
providing technical expertise to support capacity-building efforts (Bureau
for Crisis Prevention and Recovery)

6. Role ISDR, UNDP, OCHA and CADRI
OCHA: strengthening disaster preparedness at all levels:
a. Preparedness of OCHA to respond
b. Preparedness of the international humanitarian community to
respond
c. Preparedness of national /regional authorities to respond (in
collaboration with UNDP, ISDR and IFRC)
CADRI: composed of ISDR, UNDP and OCHA.
Set up to build capacity of national governments on disaster
risk management strategy and policy

7. Disaster Risk Reduction Cycle
Recovery
Prevention
Preparedness
Response
Disaster
EPR planning

8. RISK = HAZARD X VULNERABILITY (EXPOSURE)
__________________________________
CAPACITY

9. From a gender perspective:
RISK = HAZARD X VULNERABILITY (identified through gender
analysis)
__________________________________________
CAPACITY (identified through gender analysis, lessons
learned, etc.)

10. In normal language:
 Identify the nature of the physical hazard, such as the impact’s
probability, location and intensity.
 Determine the human vulnerability to the risk, by identifying
exposure and weaknesses.
 Identify the capacities and available resources for managing and
reducing vulnerability.
 Determine acceptable levels of risk

11. Disasters affect everyone, but they are not gender neutral:
 Global statistics:
 In natural disasters 80% of the victims are women.
 Men normally form the majority of victims in armed conflicts
since they are combatants and have more risks of losing their
life.

12.  The risks and vulnerabilities that people face from natural
disasters are as much a product of their social situation as their
physical environment.
 Social networks, power relationships, knowledge and skills,
gender roles, health, wealth, and location, all affect risk and
vulnerability to disasters and the capacity to respond to them.
 Vulnerabilities and capacities of individuals and social groups
evolve over time and determine people’s abilities to cope with
disaster and recover from it.

13. This understanding needs to be applied to the following three
areas:
 Analysing the (possible) impacts of disaster
 Analysing local capacities to reduce risk and respond to
disaster
 Designing programmes

14. What are the consequences if gender is not taken into
consideration in DRR?
 Inadequate risk identification and risk assessment
 Inappropriate policy and programming response, prioritisation and
financing of risk at national and community levels
 Ineffective disaster risk reduction interventions and outcomes
 Interventions can create or worsen gender inequalities and
vulnerabilities.

15. Risk assessment process from gender perspective
 Identify the nature of the physical hazard, such as the impact’s
location, intensity, and probability.
E.g.:
Houses built too close to a river/ sea/ mountain slope, etc.: it is often
the poor and vulnerable persons who cannot afford to live in safer
places.

16.  Identify exposure and weaknesses (vulnerabilities)
Roles in society:
- Reproductive role of women often make them homebound, which makes them
particularly vulnerable in earthquakes and hurricanes.
- Cultural norms can prevent women and girls from learning skills such as swimming or
climbing, while societal or religious dress codes may be impractical in time of disaster.
Economic aspects: poverty may affect the level of education and awareness, leading to
less access to information about potential risks. Poverty can lead to lack of safe areas
for planting crops and accessing markets. Poverty can also cause bad pre-disaster
health conditions. Poverty restricts choice.

17.  Identify exposure and weaknesses (vulnerabilities)
Physical safety:
- Loss of housing during disaster means that families are often forced to
relocate to shelters or move in with relatives or neighbours, where women,
girls, boys and men may not be safe.
- In the aftermath of disasters women and children are at risk of becoming
victims of trafficking, domestic and sexual violence.
- Male / female migration during disasters can lead to an increase in unsafe
sexual practices for both women and men, and lead to the risk of women
being forced into unsafe transactional sex.

18.  Focus on women: what capacities do they have in society?
 Risk mapping of hazards.
 Mobilizing communities to prepare for and respond to disasters
 Assessing damage and impact of disasters
 Identifying missing community members
 Agents of change