GAR 2013 Main Report

231

cal risk assessments based on hazard data and vulnerability information are available and include risk assessments for key sectors. ^v And only 44 of 94 countries assess future and probable risk, whereas 45 countries undertake multi-hazard risk assessments.

Only 40 percent of countries reporting through the HFA Monitor in 2011–2013 note that they have agreed national standards for multi-hazard risk assessments. However, this already represents progress compared with the last review cycle in 2009– 2011 when only 25 percent confirmed having such standards in place. In 2013, 32 countries report they have a common format for risk assessments and 31 report the existence of risk assessment formats that are customised for users. Of all countries, only 18 report having both.

Although far from the majority of countries worldwide have mechanisms for collecting, storing and analysing disaster loss data regularly and systematically, a fast-growing number have recognised the

importance of this relatively low-cost, high-benefit strategy. Out of 94 countries, 73 report that they collect, monitor and analyse disaster loss data, and 58 countries confirm the existence and regular updating of national disaster loss databases. Of these, 46 make use of reports based on loss data for planning in finance, planning and sector line ministries.

Several low and middle-income countries report that systematic data collection and sharing depends on resources provided through bilateral and multilateral cooperation. Efforts in establishing systematic disaster information systems, therefore, are hampered by short-term, one-off project approaches, which are difficult to institutionalise and sustain (UNISDR, 2012

UNISDR. 2012.,City Resilience in Africa: A Ten Essentials Pilot., United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction., Geneva,Switzerland: UNISDR.. .

Progress, however, is being made, as seen in Box 15.5, which provides examples on partnerships in building information bases for earthquake risk reduction.

(Source: Geoscience Australia)^vii

Box 15.5 Improving the information base on building vulnerability to earthquakes

Assessing the vulnerability of the built environment to earthquakes is extremely important in assessing potential consequences of an event, as well as mainstreaming earthquake risk reduction into the local development planning process. Understanding the response of existing structures to potential earthquakes requires the knowledge of building materials and engineering practices, which vary widely at the local level. This information base can only be reliably and sustainably developed at the local level; however, this is rarely done.

Buildings’ exposure and vulnerability is an important part of the Rapid Earthquake Damage Assessment System (REDAS) developed by PHILVOLC, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology. The Institute, in partnership with Geoscience Australia and supported by the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID), has been developing the first national-scale building exposure database. Validation and enhancement of this database at the local level started with Iloilo City, facilitated by the Institute of Civil Engineering of the University of the Philippines Diliman (UPD-ICE) with the support of professional structural engineering societies in the Philippines. Through this engagement, the local engineering community agreed to deliver a building classification schema and corresponding earthquake vulnerability models.

Another example of successful and long-term partnership in enhancing the information base for earthquake risk reduction is the Australia Indonesia Facility for Disaster Risk Reduction (AIFDR).^vi After the September 2009 earthquake that struck West Sumatra in Indonesia, AIFDR supported a team of Indonesian and international engineers and scientists who collected and analysed damage information. This team, co-led by Geoscience Australia and the Institute of Technology, Bandung, examined damaged buildings to identify the structural characteristics that may have contributed to their damage state, and provided a systematic survey of the complete populations of both damaged and undamaged structures. The project has provided a broad categorisation of the Indonesian building stock and it provides the basis for developing for a national model of the vulnerability of building structures in Indonesia.