RISK Award first-hand news: best project proposals 2014

This document summarizes a selection of the best projects proposals for the Risk Award 2014 which focus was people in emergency situations during natural disasters. The project proposals range from safer primary schools and the inclusion of special-needs citizens in evacuation plans to system ideas at national level. They provide valuable information on how effective inclusive disaster risk management can be implemented.

The RISK Award has been set up to help improve risk reduction and disaster management by providing financial support to projects dedicated to this topic. 2014 theme was “Disaster emergencies — Resilience for the most vulnerable”. When disasters hit, it is of vital importance that the evacuation measures drawn up by emergency response planning committees are effective and actually reach all the people at risk. This applies in particular to the most vulnerable members of society who are at greatest risk due to disablement, age, communication problems, poverty, religious reasons or gender discrimination. They often run the risk of being neglected during planning, and in the worst case are left without defence in the face of a disaster. Inclusive disaster risk management is therefore of the utmost importance.