UN calls for new strategy to cope with natural disasters

How can the Philippines, which is reputed to be a record holder of the most number of disasters every year, reduce its vulnerability to natural disasters?

This question again cropped up in the face of the damage wrought by tropical storm "Reming," which hit the country over the weekend after representatives from 19 countries wrapped up talks on disaster response and humanitarian assistance at Dusit Hotel in Makati City.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance (OCHA) called on participating countries to adopt a long-term disaster mitigation strategy aside from just strengthening and improving disaster response — the focus of the "SAGIP 2000" multilateral symposium.

"Deeply concerned with the increasing human and economic losses engendered by natural disasters, OCHA is strongly advocating long-term disaster mitigation, notably through the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (ISDR)," said Gerhard Putman-Cramer, OCHA deputy director and chief of the disaster response branch in Geneva.

Cramer noted that Asia, which he described as the most disaster-prone region in the world, witnessed several unprecedented catastrophes caused by natural hazards during the last three years.

"We conduct evaluations and lessons learned, studies for improving the coordination of relief and the impact of international response activities in general," the UN official added.

As part of the UN Secretariat, OCHA is responsible for the mobilization and coordination of international assistance in support of the government of a country affected by a natural disaster.

OCHA can provide a maximum of $50,000 from its own resources as emergency cash grant to disaster-affected countries, but it can disburse up to $150,000 from funds deposited by Norway and Denmark in its Emergency Grant Reserve.

Developing countries, especially their most densely populated regions, suffer the brunt of natural disasters, according to the World Development Report 2000/2001 launched recently by the World Bank.
The report said that between 1990 and 1998, 94 percent of the world’s 568 major natural disasters and more than 97 percent of all natural disaster-related deaths were in developing countries. It added that over the past 10 years, the incidence of natural disasters has increased.

Developing countries, the World Bank report explained, are particularly vulnerable because they have limited capacity to prevent and absorb the adverse effects of natural disasters. It observed that there is a difference in approach to emergency management between many developing and developed countries.

The same report supported Cramer’s position that risk reduction and mitigation is the better approach to lessen vulnerability to disasters. It observed that there is a difference in approach to emergency management between many developing and developed countries.

"Developing countries emphasize preparedness and response — making sure that the resources to respond to emergencies are available and ready to dispatch and then they are dispatched quickly and used efficiently after an emergency has occurred," the report said. "Developed countries increasingly emphasize reducing or mitigating the impacts of disasters."