What we measure matters: The case of the missing development data in Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction Monitoring

This article is an exploratory mapping exercise of and a collective reflection on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015−2030’s (SFDRR) indicators—and their use in measuring progress towards disaster risk reduction (DRR). The article highlights that despite the rhetoric of vulnerability, the measurement of progress towards DRR remains event/hazard-centric. This work argues that the measurement of disaster risk could be greatly enhanced by the integration of development data in future iterations of global DRR frameworks for action.

This article concludes that the SFDRR measures is the impact of ‘‘disaster events.’’ Thus, it avoids dealing with the complexity of social, political, and economic interests that lead local, national, and international actors to grapple with each other over change, and therefore influence the notions of development as well as the realization of these notions. The article contends that the choice to measure event impacts, rather than integrate data that would interrogate root causes of disaster risk, undermines the effectiveness of the framework.