Federal Foreign Office - funding for disaster reduction projects
In the last 20 years, the number of natural disasters has increased from about 200 to over 400 per year. Nine out of ten disasters today are linked to climate change. Developing countries in particular are in many cases not taken by surprise, but are nonetheless inadequately prepared.
This increases the urgency of the question as to what Germany can do to save lives and prevent damage even before these disasters happen. The Federal Foreign Office therefore engages in disaster reduction as a priority of its humanitarian aid. Every year, it earmarks 10% of its humanitarian aid funds for disaster reduction projects. The sheer dimension and risks of climate change underscore the need for this strategy.
What is disaster reduction?
Disaster reduction encompasses all measures that help avert or mitigate the impact of extreme natural events on human beings and on economic structures in vulnerable regions. It does not start when a disaster has occurred, but rather incorporates all measures that can be taken in advance.
Disaster reduction takes in three key elements: risk analysis, disaster prevention and preparedness.
Risk analysis is the basis for all disaster reduction measures, since it enables us to predict the probability of natural disasters occurring in a given area. It includes an analysis of the physical risk (hazard assessment) and the susceptibility of the local population (vulnerability assessment).
Disaster prevention encompasses all appropriate medium to long-term measures designed to prevent or contain the negative impact of disasters. It comprises above all political and legislative activities, as well as relevant planning and infrastructural measures.
Preparedness is primarily concerned with improving society’s ability to react sensibly in the face of a natural disaster. In other words, it must be ensured that the vulnerable population and responsible organizations know what to do in the event of a disaster before that disaster strikes. They should also be put in a position to organize the necessary logistical preparations.
Why disaster reduction?
Some 250 million people fall victim to natural disasters each year. In the period between June 2008 and May 2009 alone, extreme natural disasters such as floods, tornadoes and droughts claimed more than 235,000 lives. The number of natural disasters increased by 60% between 1997 and 2006 compared to the previous decade. Within this period, the number of registered fatalities increased from 600,000 to 1.2 million. The damage caused by such natural events is also constantly increasing. Growing importance attaches to climate change here.
Effective disaster reduction can considerably lower the number of victims and the damage caused. One example for this is Bangladesh. When cyclone Sidr hit the Bay of Bengal in November 2007 with a speed of up to 240 km/h and a radius of 500 km, some 3.2 million people had already been transferred to emergency accommodation or higher lying regions as a disaster reduction measure. As a result the number of victims was much lower than in 1991, for example, when a similar cyclone claimed around 140,000 lives.
Efficient disaster reduction therefore also triggers concrete savings when it comes to dealing with the ensuing disaster. Moreover, the better disaster reduction is implemented, the less a country will be dependent on outside help should disaster strike. It will be far better able to take preparatory steps and rebuild on its own.
What is the Federal Foreign Office doing?
Work to strengthen disaster reduction is being conducted at different levels. Cooperation with the United Nations is to the fore.
The Hyogo Framework for Action 2005-2015 adopted at the World Conference on Disaster Reduction (WCDR) in Kobe, Japan, and the international dialogue on disaster reduction provide the conceptual framework.
Germany is working closely with the United Nations Secretariat of the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction based in Geneva and its Platform for the Promotion of Early Warning (PPEW) based in Bonn.
The Federal Foreign Office is also supporting the work of the German Committee for Disaster Reduction within the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (ISDR). The Committee serves as the national platform on disaster reduction and competence centre for disaster reduction issues.
What support is the Federal Foreign Office providing?
The Federal Foreign Office uses 10% of its humanitarian aid funding every year for disaster reduction projects.
In these projects, the Federal Foreign Office works with non-governmental organizations, the United Nations and the organizations of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. There are guidelines governing the earmarking of funds. They include:
Priority of humanitarian need: the fundamental objective of both our disaster reduction and humanitarian aid activities is to save lives and protect livelihoods.
Adapting to a changed global environment: Disaster reduction is an issue of increasing importance especially in the light of climate change. Projects are to reflect this.
Disaster early warning: This is a thematic focus in the sphere of disaster reduction.
Vulnerability: The projects are carried out above all in particularly vulnerable areas of poorer countries in which the population faces a high risk of disaster.
Practical relevance: Scientific research findings should be utilized with a view to applying them practically.
Focus: Protecting endangered coastal regions from flooding
Floods are the most common natural disaster. Asia is particularly affected where there are almost twice as many floods as there are on the African or American continents.
Flooding and the rise in sea level also particularly affect island states such as the Philippines and the Dominican Republic.
The Federal Foreign Office has been focusing its project work since 2008 particularly on disaster reduction in endangered coastal regions. Some two-thirds of the global population live in coastal regions. Given this high population density, infrastructure such as roads, industry, ports and energy facilities is central for the regions, but also agricultural land. Projects in Asia, Africa and Latin America help effectively protect the population.
Since 2009 the Federal Foreign Office has been focusing its assistance particularly on strengthening disaster reduction in Afghanistan.
You can find more information and examples here:
Last updated 23.10.2009
