How to include and empower the vulnerable in disaster risk reduction
Policy makers and international agencies are currently negotiating the successor to the international agreement to reduce disaster risk – the Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA), which is due to be agreed at Sendai, Japan in March 2015. The successor framework for the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) will be defined on a similar timeframe. As we edge closer to 2015, we have an unprecedented opportunity to lock in a favorable and multifaceted international policy landscape for tackling disaster risk worldwide.
This event is one of a new event series Rethinking International Policy for Reducing Disaster Risk hosted by the Overseas Development Institute (ODI) and Climate and Development Knowledge Network (CDKN). The series examines some of the more thorny issues involved in renegotiating the Hyogo Framework for Action, including public private partnerships, use of risk assessments, fragile states and conflict and effective governance for DRR, amongst others. Events are held at ODI and at key international DRR conferences in 2014.
This particular event supports the launch of an ODI briefing paper authored by Emma Lovell and Virginie le Masson. The briefing paper further develops the vulnerability and inclusion dimensions that were included in The future framework for disaster risk reduction: a guide for decision-makers (Module 4). It particularly addresses the following topics:
- Marginalised groups are more likely to suffer from disasters
- Disasters exacerbate vulnerabilities and social inequalities
- Vulnerable groups should be included in DRR as active agents of change for resilience to be effective and equitable
- Vulnerable groups tend to be excluded from DRR decision-making, thus making them even more vulnerable to the impacts of disaster
The paper complements the guide and attempts to move the debate beyond the sole idea that vulnerable groups need to be included within DRR policy. Through promoting the socio-economic and cultural inclusion, as well as the political recognition of marginalised people, this paper provides examples of where their participation as active agents of change has proven beneficial for achieving effective and equitable resilience. This evidence will support recommendations for the inclusion and empowerment of vulnerable groups within the post-2015 framework for DRR.
The event was chaired by Tom Mitchell, Head of Climate Change at ODI, with the aim of coming up with recommendations for the post-2015 framework for disaster risk reduction.
Chair: Tom Mitchell, Head of Programme - Climate & Environment, Overseas Development Institute
Panel: Emma Lovell, Research Officer, Overseas Development Institute
Poverty: Hugh MacLeman, Special Advisor to the British Red Cross’ International Director, British Red Cross
Gender: Dr. Maureen Fordham, Enterprise Fellow Principal Lecturer in Disaster Management at Northumbria University and founding members of the Gender and Disaster Network
Age: Nick Hall, Head of DRR and CCA, Save the Children Claire Harris, Disaster Risk Reduction and Resilience Adviser, HelpAge Disability: Annie Patri, Project Coordinator and Acting Domain Coordinator DRM, India Programme & Regional Projects/Asia, Handicap International
Ethnic groups: Dr. Jake Rom Cadag, Assistant Professor at the University of the Philippines Diliman