Mr. Chairman,
Thank you for the opportunity to address this Committee on behalf of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (the IFRC). In my address I would like to focus the distinguished delegates’ attention on the reduction of risks for natural and technological disasters as a condition for sustainable development.
Changing patterns of vulnerability
Please allow me to state a few facts to this Committee on the changing nature of disasters and their impact on society over the last thirty years. They shed light on important emerging trends:
- While the number of people killed by disasters has been significantly reduced, the number of people affected by them has grown without proportion. Over the last thirty years the number of people killed by disasters is contained at approximately 80,000 per year. However, the number of affected people tripled to around 250 million every year.
- Economic losses due to disasters in the 1990s rose to an annual average of 63 billion US Dollars, five times as much compared to the 1970s. Some estimates project that disasters related to global warming could soon cost over 300 billion dollars each year.
- Related to the previous trend, the number of natural disasters has more than doubled over the past ten years alone. This is almost exclusively due to a sharp increase in weather related hazards. Both severity and frequency of extreme weather events have increased, and in a capricious way. The floods in Europe last year, followed by the intense heat waves this year, are only one example of events that fit in this trend.
- In many countries, the cumulative negative impact of “everyday disasters, such as traffic accidents, often take a greater toll on human lives than the more visible large disasters.
It is clear that disasters are a major obstacle to sustainable development, specifically to the development of the poorest and most marginalized people in the world. Disasters undermine development by contributing to vulnerability and persistent poverty. They seek out the poor and ensure they stay poor. Some of the disasters build-up slowly, like rising sea levels, which render countries with low lying coastal areas, such as Small Island Developing States, vulnerable. Or droughts, causing wide spread hunger under vulnerable populations. Other disasters bring havoc within hours, like hurricanes, or even seconds, like earthquakes. All, however, effectively wipe away the hard won gains of development for countries, communities and individuals alike. The International Federation’s flagship publication, the annual World Disasters Report, provides testimony to these developments.
But vulnerability to disasters is not determined only by a lack of wealth. Population growth and rapid urbanization force people to live in hazardous areas. Poor infrastructural planning and environmental degradation also have increased potential risks in many areas. And on top of this, diseases are a major contributing factor. Let me therefore state another fact:
- Around 13 million people die each year from infectious diseases. HIV/AIDS is expected to kill more people in this decade than the total number of people who died during all the wars and disasters over the last fifty years.
Widespread infectious diseases, in particular HIV/AIDS, place individuals and communities at high risk of hazards. The droughts in Africa of 2002 and 2003 are a grim proof of that: HIV/AIDS, when combined with other hazards such as drought and cyclical food shortages, becomes an overwhelming weakening force, eroding peoples’ coping mechanisms. It’s a complex emergency, one the world has never experienced before.
Risk reduction and sustainable development
Mr. Chairman,
The above indicates that disasters (aggravated by widespread diseases) are a major threat to the global economy and to society. The old view of disasters as temporary interruptions on the path to social and economic development, to be dealt with through humanitarian relief, is no longer credible. The problem is much deeper. If we are to make sure that investments in development will not be squandered, these investments should be protected against the risk of disasters.
Strengthening communities’ resilience and mitigating the effects of disasters is first and foremost a task of every government. However, effective cooperation is required by a broad range of actors, including United Nations, civil society and specialized organizations such as ours. As independent auxiliaries to public authorities, National Red Cross Red Crescent Societies play a critical role linking government to civil society. Based on our role, experience and expertise
- We urge governments to take a long-term perspective when looking at disasters. Providing assistance after a disaster has struck is important to save lives and rescue property. But anticipating on potential disasters will make a major difference in the impact of a disaster. The world should not only repair, but also learn to prepare. This requires, however, long-term commitment and substantial investment. Secretary General Kofi Annan put it eloquently when he stated: “While the costs of prevention have to be paid in the present, its benefits lie in a distant future. Moreover, the benefits are not tangible; they are the disasters that did not happen.”
The community based disaster preparedness and risk reduction strategies and programs of the Red Cross and Red Crescent pay off: flood-proof shelters in Bangladesh protect thousands of people each year and have dramatically reduced the number of affected and killed people. Mangrove plantations along Viet Nam’s coastline have reduced the damage of typhoons to the country’s dykes and to the vulnerable people and their livelihoods living behind them. Houses constructed after Hurricane Mitch have proven to be both hurricane and earthquake resistant. Shelters of the American Red Cross provided a safe place for thousands of people during the recent hurricane Isabel. In Cuba, the country’s national community awareness during hurricane Michelle assured that, while 700,000 people moved to shelters, only three lives were lost. In many Pacific Islands our programs link basic first aid and health promotion with disaster preparedness. With our extensive network of volunteers, we contribute to linking-up vulnerable communities in early warning systems, connecting hi-tech and low-tech.
Since several years our organization anticipates on climate change. According to the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, global warming and the resulting climate change will lead to more and more frequent extreme weather events. The Red Cross Red Crescent Center on Climate Change and Disaster Preparedness, based with the Netherlands Red Cross, provides support to our world-wide disaster preparedness work with taking adaptation to climate change into account.
- We urge governments not to let geo-political factors determine the risk reduction agenda. The humanitarian agenda is dominated by complex political emergencies, using vast amounts of international aid funds. Natural disasters should not fade into oblivion as soon as political crises hit the front pages.
- We urge governments to look at disasters in an integrated way, and address the root causes of vulnerability. Disasters are linked to various underlying factors. Economic growth, housing, social structures, agricultural policies, provision of health services all have an impact on disasters, and vice versa. Protecting people, communities and infrastructure against disasters should be taken into account in every development policy, at every level.
- Finally, we hope that governments and the UN will continue to support our International Disaster Response Law Project (IDRL). This project is a legal aspect of disaster preparedness, in that it identifies and collects the various laws, principles and practices relating to international disaster response. Improving awareness and implementation of existing disaster response law is a way of ensuring that in times of disaster lives can be saved and dignity restored quickly and efficiently. We also look to governments to help us find solutions where existing laws and practices need improvement and strengthening.
The importance we attach to disaster preparedness in all its forms is also reflected in the ‘Agenda for Humanitarian Action’ of the 28th International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent. This conference will take place in Geneva in December of this year, and will bring together our high level representatives with the States party to the Geneva Conventions. Many objectives of the Agenda relate to disaster preparedness and risk reduction.
Mr. Chairman,
It is our strong belief that in the wake of increased likelihood of extreme weather due to global warming, in the wake of continuous population growth and urbanization, in the wake of infectious diseases with their devastating impact, we can anticipate effectively to the challenges posed to us and reverse the trend of increased disasters and increased suffering. To do so, risk reduction is conditional to make economic growth and the well-being of people truly sustainable.
Thank you.
1.People requiring immediate assistance during a period of emergency, i.e. requiring basic survival needs such as food, water, shelter, sanitation and immediate medical assistance. It includes people reported injured, homeless and whose means of existence have been negatively affected.