Including disaster risk reduction and resilience in post-2015 development goals - what are the options?
  • Tom MitchellTom Mitchell
    Thank you for the responses to the questions I posed earlier in the discussion.

    I agree that the options of how to integrate DRR into post-2015 goals are not straightforward Loy. It will depend on how the objectives of the goals turn out - global goals or just focused on poor countries, sustainability or poverty focused, just a handful of goals or many? It will also take some really careful assessment on our part of what is measureable, where we have or can collect data, where we can establish a baseline and set prudent but ambitious targets and where we can communicate a top line target that is simple and motivating. Charles Kenny's latest post and the new report by CIGI and KDI as referenced in the blog are a great summary of the challenges we face in securing a goal on disasters: http://blogs.cgdev.org/globaldevelopment/2012/11/post-2015-pruning-the-spruce.php

    In addition to making progress on the above, we need to make the case for why it is more important to include DRR in the post-2015 goals than a range of other issues competing for inclusion. While this sounds odd, it is the nature of the discussion. Is it more important to focus on DRR than a universal right to a formal identity, or a goal on peacebuilding or food security? Unfortunately it might come down to this. What evidence are we going to draw on?

    Just one last comment - I am not convinced about setting targets for how much of ODA should be spent on DRR as a suggestion for inclusion in the post-2015 goal. This is largely because the goals are heading towards being universal and ODA doesn't really apply in many countries. How about a target percentage of domestic budget allocated to reducing risk? Shouldn't every country, no matter how rich or poor, be dedicating some resource in the annual budget to DRR?

    As this discussion draws to a close, I would like to thank UNDP and UNISDR to hosting this lively exchange and I look forward to continued discussion on this critical topic.
  • Jasmine PerrymanJasmine Perryman
    From Uganda:
    Disasters arise from the combination of hazard events and human vulnerability. Over
    the past decades, our thinking has begun to change. Information on disaster is building
    a new perception that disasters are our own making. The increase in storms, floods,
    drought and other hazards especially in grassroots communities are accumulating from
    greenhouse gases in the atmosphere as a result of industrialization and deforestation
    which are not natural. Also, the idea of risk is increasingly entering the vocabulary of
    development practitioners and the private sector alike. As grassroots women, there
    is much need to systematically assess, reduce and manage risks that grassroots
    communities face.

    Therefore, disaster risk reduction should be incorporated in all sustainable development
    initiatives. This is because disasters are leading to economic loss. Strengthening the
    resilience of vulnerable communities especially grassroots communities with less
    or no capacity to develop disaster resilient communities is crucial. This is true so
    that to reduce the exacerbation of poverty which to some extent is due to disasters
    in vulnerable grassroots communities. When disaster risk is reduced in vulnerable
    communities, MDGs will be achieved. However, this can only be realized if strategies
    are put into action especially at grassroots level where there is much need in the
    sense that people in these communities especially women, girls and children are more
    exposed, more sensitive, have less awareness and are less prepared.

    Where support has been extended to grassroots communities, results are seen.
    Grassroots women respond positively to interventions aimed at developing disaster
    resilient communities. For example grassroots women in Jinja district, Uganda spear
    headed by Slum Women’s Initiative for Development, with support from Huairou
    Commission and GROOTS International have been able to map disasters, risks,
    vulnerabilities and resources in grassroots communities. These women are now
    embarking on developing their communities so that they are resilient to disasters such
    as drought, floods, famine through awareness raising as well as using best agricultural
    practices hence curbing food insecurity and poverty whereby the women can have what
    to eat at home and be able to sell surplus for income generation.

    Disaster resilience cuts across multiple development sectors. Therefore, inclusion of
    disaster resilience in the post-2015 development goals needs to be handled carefully
    by putting in consideration many factors as far as development and disasters are
    concerned so that to ensure that achieving the development goals does not increase
    disasters.
  • Nazare AlbuquerqueNazare Albuquerque
    Dear Colleagues,

    We are delighted to see the enthusiastic engagement of so many colleagues in this dialogue. Because of the high turnout, the discussion has been extended and will continue on Prevention Web for an additional week until Friday 23 November. So far, consensus has emerged that disaster risk reduction is at the core of any effort to advance development and reduce poverty, and therefore must be a central part of the post-2015 development framework. A range of options and ideas on how to integrate it in the most useful way have also been voiced. We welcome this rich discussion and look forward to another week of this fruitful exchange.

    Nazaré Albuquerque and Hanna Grahn
  • Maggie GibsonMaggie Gibson
    Hello again
    I'd like to emphasis the issue of aging and lifecourse development as an important consideration to keep in mind as goals and indicators are developed. Disaggregaton of data by age, including age categories across adulthood, is essential for identifying contexts in which older adults are disproportionately impacted, such as natural disasters. Participants may be aware of the United Nations Madrid International Plan of Action on Aging http://social.un.org/index/Ageing/Resources/MadridInternationalPlanofActiononAgeing.aspx, and find related documents such as this one: http://www.un.org/ageing/documents/building_natl_capacity/guiding.pdf, which speaks to mainstreaming aging issues within other frameworks for social and economic development and human rights, of interest.
    best regards,
    Maggie Gibson
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