Defusing disaster - reducing the risk: calamity is unnatural
This document addresses the risks that hazards bring as a Red Cross and Red Crescent priority. It presents their grassroots presence as an opportunity to tap into local knowledge, help communities identify the dangers they face, assess their capacities and vulnerabilities, and come up with solutions.
Disaster is unnatural and risk reduction measures diminish the odds of it occurring by doing everything possible before the event to protect life, limit damage and strengthen a vulnerable community’s ability to bounce back quickly from adversity. The solutions may lie in simple things like educating children on what to do in emergencies, or planting trees on unstable hillsides to stop those releasing landslides. The more complex include early warning systems, coastal protection, earthquake-safe construction and urban planning. Whatever they are, thousands of lives and billions of dollars could be saved every year if a fraction of the cost of disaster response was spent minimizing the impact of hazards. Studies have shown that every dollar invested in risk reduction can save between two and ten dollars in disaster response and recovery cost.