The impact of under-development, unplanned urbanisation and
climate change is present everyday in our work: disaster are
a development & humanitarian concern. A
considerable incentive for rethinking disaster risk as an
integral part of the development process comes from the aim
of achieving the goals laid out in the Millennium
Declaration. The Declaration sets forth a road map for
human development supported by 191 nations. Eight Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs) were agreed upon in 2000, which
in turn have been broken down into 18 targets with 48 indicators
for progress. Most goals are set for achievement by 2015.

The Millennium Development
Goals have provided a focus for development efforts globally
however, there remains little cause for celebration since
the Millennium Declaration was signed committing governments
to these goals. While poverty has fallen and social indicators
have improved, most countries will not meet the Millennium
Development goals by 2015 and the existing gap between rich
and poor is widening. Recently the campaigns on poverty have
resulted in key milestones on aid and debt relief. While positive,
much more is needed if the MDGs are to be realized. These
efforts to reduce poverty are vital for vulnerability reduction
and strengthened resilience of communities to disasters.
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