UNCCD chief calls for more attention on elders in disaster relief

BEIJING (Xinhua) - Policy-makers should pay more attention on the elderly in natural calamities while adopting smart strategies for disaster prevention, says the chief of the UN's anti-desertification agency.

The senior people might have life insurance and pension schemes, but they are more vulnerable to natural disasters than any other group, Monique Barbut, executive secretary of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), told Xinhua in an article ahead of the International Day for Disaster Reduction (IDDR), which falls on Monday.

In face of an ageing world, this year's IDDR is focused on the older population under the theme of "Resilience is for life," and will highlight the need for a more inclusive approach for the elderly in disaster risk reduction.

Natural disasters around the world are increasing, both in intensity and frequency, Barbut noted, adding that nine out of 10 disasters are climate-related and many are directly attributable to land degradation.

"Not only are older person the most harmed group in disasters, they are the most likely to go unnoticed by relief teams," the UNCCD chief wrote in the article, titled "Investing in our frailer selves for the day of disaster."

"They are the ones who are left behind when degraded lands and refugee camps empty, with nowhere to go and none to care for them. They, we," reads the earnestly worded essay.

Noting that the world is not yet prepared for the more vulnerable population when disaster strikes, Barbut suggested that "a smart disaster-prevention, harm-reducing strategy" be adopted.

Such a strategy "is elegantly simple; it looks green," she said. "The impact of many disasters could be significantly reduced, if not wholly avoided, by good land management."

Through such measures as planting trees on hills to prevent landslides and protecting natural flood-barriers to forestall flooding, "we could be doing so little, to protect so many," she added.

The UNCCD is currently working with almost all countries in the world to implement green national policies to conserve the strength of the land and ward off future disasters, she said.

However, while personal insurance can help buffer victims from the impact of disasters, and while some countries have good disaster response strategies, there is a near-universal disregard for preventative and pre-emptive measures, she pointed out.

"Disasters can be contained, so why sit around waiting for the crash?" she said. "If we want to avoid the experience of full-scale disasters in our frailer future, we need to pay attention to our land."

"We will need strength, a strong foundation of soil that holds and doesn't fall apart, that nourishes rather than starves," she said.