Dear Minister,
The events of the past few weeks have thrown a spotlight on the terribly destructive nature of natural disasters. The Indian Ocean tsunami has claimed thousands of lives (current figures indicate over 150,000 people have died) and caused billions of pounds worth of damage. It will take years for some parts of the region to rebuild and recover.
We appreciate what DFID has already done to assist the victims of the tsunami and the commitments that the government has made together with your critique of the international humanitarian system and the proposals that you outlined last month at ODI.
It should be possible to take forward some of these proposals at the UN World Conference on Disaster Reduction at Kobe in a few days time. As international government delegations gather for this conference, therefore, we urge you to seize this opportunity to make progress on disaster risk reduction world wide.
Although natural phenomena like earthquakes, tsunamis, cyclones and drought are unavoidable, their destructive impact is directly linked to societies’ vulnerability and to past development choices made by governments, international actors and communities.
Globally we are witnessing increasing disaster risk, accelerated by flawed development and poverty and resulting in disasters that are more frequent and of a greater and more destructive magnitude.
Whilst the tsunami could not have been prevented, many lives could have been saved if an effective early warning system had been in place, had natural barriers (e.g. mangrove forests) been preserved and had communities and governments been better prepared to deal with the aftermath.
Evidence shows that it is the poorest that are disproportionately affected by disasters and less able to recover.
Early warning system for the Indian Ocean: it was decided at the Jakarta conference on 6 th January that the Indian Ocean region should have an early warning system. Whilst this is a positive step which should be supported, high tech early warning systems only work if they are fully integrated with regional and local level structures that ensure warnings are well communicated, well understood and rapidly acted upon.
We the undersigned ask that proposals for an early warning system incorporate community based organisations and local government and are followed up with good public education and disaster management.
It is also important not to focus exclusively on tsunami early warning but to provide an effective and integrated system which can warn against other threats such as cyclones and floods which, unlike tsunamis, occur frequently in the region.
Disasters pose a major threat to development and have been identified as one of the key factors which may prevent the achievement of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
If we are not successful in reducing poverty, then all the vulnerabilities associated with poverty will continue to accentuate the impact of disasters, especially among the poorest communities in the poorest countries.
This could result in a vicious downward spiral which would see development gains in the poorest nations wiped out. Disaster risk reduction must be mainstreamed into all development planning.
It is clear, however, that at present the International Financial Institutions and donors, for example, are failing to do this (see Discussion paper produced by Christian Aid and Action Aid entitled, In Harm’s Way: How international financial institutions’ policies can increase poor peoples vulnerability to disaster and the Tearfund research report Natural Disaster Risk reduction, the policy and practice of selected institutional donors).
Accordingly, we ask that donors review their policies to assess their effect on vulnerability to disaster. Donor policies should not make people more vulnerable to disaster.
Reconstruction in Asia: unless measures to reduce people’s vulnerability to future disasters are integrated into emergency assistance, rehabilitation and recovery, there is a danger that risk will be re-created.
Therefore, all emergency assistance must be designed so as to build stronger communities less vulnerable to future disasters. Moreover, as communities bear the brunt of disaster impacts, they must be at the heart of relief, rehabilitation and recovery projects and must be included in decision-making and action planning. International donors and NGOs providing assistance should be attentive to this fact.
The World Conference on Disaster Reduction in Kobe is expected to help develop further discourse, approach and practices of disaster reduction in many countries across the world.
Future global and national responses in disaster reduction are dependent on what is going to be discussed, negotiated and agreed. Countries will be asked to agree to a ten year action plan.
The undersigned agencies are nevertheless concerned that important issues are missing from the document. We urge the UK government delegation to continue to push for the inclusion of the following points.
Climate change – it is vital that disaster risk reduction is recognised as a vital component of adaptation to climate change and discussed in the document. Disasters related to climate change are increasing in their frequency and magnitude.
Strengthening local capacity – building capacities at the local and district levels in the most disaster prone countries must be at the heart of efforts to improve disaster risk reduction. All agreed WCDR actions, policies and procedures should be explicitly linked to bringing about changes at local community level. This issue requires more attention in the Kobe document.
Financial resources – in recent WCDR draft programme documents there has been no explicit commitment of funds. Donor governments and institutions must make binding commitments of resources to enable governments and communities to be able to implement disaster risk reduction measures.
Targets and timeframes – the draft declaration prepared for the conference does not contain any. The conference should identify clearly the processes and indicators which should be used to show whether governments and their partners have fulfilled their commitments and by which they can be held to account for their actions.
In the wake of the enormous tragedy in Asia, this conference presents a unique opportunity to make decisions that could save millions of lives from environmental disasters in the future.
Governments must accept binding targets and commit resources at the World Conference on Disaster Reduction, which is being held in Kobe, Japan from 18-22nd January.
Yours sincerely
Paul Valentin , International Director, Christian Aid
Koy Thomson, International Director of Policy, Action Aid International
George Gelber, Head of Public Policy, CAFOD
Lyndall Stein, Director, Concern
Andrew Scott, Director of International Programmes and Policy, ITDG
Phil Bloomer, Head of Advocacy, Oxfam
Ken Caldwell, Director of International Operations, Save the Children
Andy Atkins, Advocacy Director, Tearfund
cc.
The Rt Hon Jack Straw MP, Foreign Secretary, FCO
The Rt Hon Margaret Beckett MP, Secretary of State, DEFRA
Gareth R Thomas Esq MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, DfID
Sharon White, Head of Policy, DfID
Michael Mosselmans, Director - CHAD, DfID
David Horobin, Director - CHAD Operations Team , DfID