Avoiding disaster in a dangerous world — Global Issues

For Malawians, Hurricane Freddy was an irreversible disaster. March of this year, the storm ripping off African nation twice in a month-long record-breaking devastation through southern Africa.

The unprecedented duration of extreme weather events will be difficult for any country to cope with, but for Malawi, one of the most vulnerable developing countries in the world, it is real. dire. Hundreds of people were killed, more than half a million people were displaced and thousands of hectares of crops were washed away.

As of early April, hundreds of people are still missing and about 1.1 million people need humanitarian assistance. The violent storm hit Malawi’s worst cholera outbreak in two decades, adding to the pressure on an already overstretched health system.

That same month, a group of independent UN rights experts call for more humanitarian aid, but also for Malawi to “develop sustainable solutions to prevent, reduce and address disaster displacement through climate adaptation measures, preparedness and disaster risk reduction.”

More severe, costly and deadly disasters

Freddy’s impact is just one example of the growing number of complex and costly disasters affecting a growing number of people, leading 187 countries to sign an international disaster risk reduction agreement. in 2015.

The Sendai Frame, Named after the Japanese city where it was adopted, is an international United Nations agreement designed to reduce damage caused by natural disasters. It aims to significantly reduce disaster deaths, reduce disaster damage to infrastructure and improve early warning systems – all by 2030.

However, eight years on, little progress has been made: according to to the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDR), the number of people affected by disasters has increased by 80% since 2015. Furthermore, UNDRR finds that many lessons from past disasters appear to have been overlooked.

half-time report

From May 18 to 19, Senior meeting at United Nations Headquarters in New York will provide an opportunity to tackle the many challenges that have impeded progress and chart a path towards a safer world.

Delegates attending the event will study the report of midterm review Regarding the Framework implementation, this shows the scale of the problem. Released in April to mark halfway between the Framework’s launch and the 2030 deadline, it doesn’t make for a comfortable read.

The report highlights the growing impacts of climate change since 2015 and the devastating, much more severe inequality consequences in developing countries; A case in point is the floods in Pakistan in 2022, which affected more than 33 million people and damaged millions of acres of farmland, causing widespread food insecurity.

The increasing interconnectedness of the world’s societies, environments, and technologies means that disasters can spread extremely quickly. The report indicates the COVID-19 is a prime example, which began as a localized outbreak in China in 2019, before rapidly spreading around the world, resulting in the deaths of about 6.5 million people by the end of 2022.

“There is no need to look for many examples of disasters getting worse,” said Mami Mizutori, UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Disaster Risk Reduction and Head of UNDRR. any. “The sad reality is that many of these disasters are preventable because they are caused by human decisions. The Midterm Review’s call to action is that countries need to minimize risk in every decision, action and investment they make.

Leading countries

Obviously, it’s not enough: disaster costs continue to rise, but disaster risk reduction funding is not growing anywhere near the pace needed to address them.

However, as the report shows, there are numerous examples of countries, at the national level, putting in place plans to protect their citizens from the risk of disasters.

To date, disaster preparedness plans have been issued in 125 countries. These range from legislation in Costa Rica that allows all organizations to allocate funds for emergency preparedness and response, to the Australian Disaster Preparedness Fund, which will invest up to AU$200 million. each year from 2023 – 2024 on disaster prevention and recovery initiatives, and Barbados’ disaster provisions allow for immediate debt freezes in the event of an economic impact caused by the disaster.

And, while the number of people affected by disasters is growing, the kill rate has more than halved. The disaster-related mortality rate in the decade 2005-2014 was 1.77 per 100,000 of the global population and in the decade 2012-2021 it fell to 0.84 (not taking into account the impact of climate change). COVID-19).

The recommendations in the Midterm Report and the measures being taken at the country level will form the basis of the Summit discussions: they contain evidence that a safer world is possible. achievable, between now and 2030, if necessary. risk-reducing investments are made.