Risk Wise

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• Disaster mitigation and preparedness must form

part of the wider context of disaster risk reduction

– relevant to all those working in hazardous

regions, whether in relief, development, business,

civil society or government

• Long-term partnerships based on good governance

across many sectors and disciplines provide the best

basis for tackling the threats posed by disasters

• Setting targets for risk reduction could provide a

way to focus political will and adequate resources

on the problem.

The proof of the pudding

There is no better way of demonstrating the impor-

tance of these policy and strategy statements than to

look at the work of the National Red Cross and Red

Crescent Societies on the ground. It is highly likely that

in the global family that makes up the membership of

the International Federation, there is activity being

undertaken that relates to all five priorities of the

Hyogo Framework for Action. Many of the member

societies function in countries that have established

Millennium Development Goals and are implementing

substantial poverty reduction strategies. Success in

Federation of the Future

sets out the International Federation’s Global

Agenda. Among the four goals it identifies are Goal 1: ‘Reduce the

number of deaths, injuries and impact from disasters’ and Goal 3:

‘Increase local community, civil society and Red Cross Red Crescent

capacity to address the most urgent situations of vulnerability’. The

priorities identified to meet the goals include ‘Scaling up our actions

with vulnerable communities in health promotion, disease preven-

tion and disaster risk reduction’.

At the 28th International Conference of the Red Cross and Red

Crescent held in December 2003, the theme was ‘Protecting Human

Dignity’. Among the resolutions adopted by the conference was the

‘Agenda for Humanitarian Action’, one of the final goals of which

acknowledged ‘the importance of disaster risk reduction’ and agreed

to ‘undertake measures to minimize the impact of disasters on vulner-

able populations’. The last International Conference held in November

2007 reinforced this need, associating disaster risk reduction very

closely with meeting the requirements of climate change adaptation.

The support for disaster risk reduction has been echoed through

the goals of regional conferences, while more than 160 of the

International Federation’s 186 members have identified disaster risk

reduction activities in their plans and budgets for 2008/9. In 2002,

the International Federation even devoted one entire edition of its

annual flagship publication

World Disasters Report

to disaster risk

reduction, concluding that:

Children at a tube well constructed by the Nepal Red Cross Society