NEED TO BUILD LINKAGES
BETWEEN DISASTER AND DEVELOPMENT STRESSED
India has made positive
strides in disaster risk reduction since the Orissa Super Cyclone
of 1999 and Gujarat earthquake last year. The UN system has been
contributing to concepts, plans and practices relevant to disaster
preparedness, mitigation and reconstruction. This was stated by
the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Resident Representative
and UN Resident Coordinator, Dr. Brenda Gael McSweeney in New
Delhi. She said almost every UN organization has disaster management
and related activities as part of its action agenda.
Dr. McSweeny
was speaking at the ongoing International Seminar on Disaster
Preparedness and Mitigation, 2002. The Seminar has been jointly
organized by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs, UNDP and the
Confederation of Indian Industries (CII). She said development
and disaster preparedness have to be linked strongly if precious
development gains made through years of painstaking work are to
be protected in the long term.
Making a strong
pleas for looking at disaster prevention and mitigation through
a development lens, Dr. McSweeney said globally, more and more
people are affected by natural disasters. The need for a comprehensive
approach to natural hazards, for incorporating the concept of
disaster risk management in development, is more and more apparent.
Disaster prevention is an important prerequisite for lasting people-centred
development, Dr. McSweeney observed. Making a pointed reference
to the contribution made by the national UN Volunteer Programme
in Orissa and Gujarat in building linkages between communities
and the administration from the block to the State level, she
said the super cyclone in Orissa had brought home the need to
adopt a community-centred approach, focusing on vulnerability
risk reduction and lasting recovery.
The Union Home
Secretary, Shri N. Gopalaswamy in his address said the focus of
Government’s disaster management initiatives has shifted from
‘relief’ to reducing risks, associated with disasters and their
occurrence and making appropriate policies and plans to guide
all aspects of disaster management, including pre-disaster preparedness,
post-disaster response, short and medium-term physical reconstruction,
social rehabilitation and long-term disaster mitigation. As a
principle, disaster management should not be addressed in isolation,
and be considered an integral part of developmental policy and
planning at all levels. The process should ideally involve participation
starting from the community to national and international levels,
he said.
The discussions during
the three-day Seminar held from 21st to 23rd
November, 2002 at the India Habitat centre will focus on sustainable
approaches to community based preparedness, prevention and mitigation,
comprehensive forecasting and warning systems for effective disaster
preparedness and response, risk, vulnerability and hazard analysis
and information systems, legal and technological aspects in disaster
mitigation; resource strategies for disaster preparedness, financing
human settlements and industry including insurance in vulnerable
areas, and, technological aspects of disaster preparedness and
mitigation.
Over 150 delegates
representing international, national and state-level institutions,
think tanks, corporate organizations, multi-lateral and bilateral
agencies and the media are participating in the Conference.
