Disasters and inequality are two sides of the same coin - EDITORIAL

Besides Sri Lanka’s economic disaster, which has plunged tens of thousands of families into poverty, climate change has disfigured weather patterns, with prolonged droughts hitting people at unexpected times and heavy rain causing floods in several provinces also at unexpected times. President Ranil Wickremesinghe and the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) government need to act immediately and effectively to provide relief to tens of thousands of people affected by ongoing floods. In various districts, the Disaster Management Centres must use modern high technology to manage the crisis effectively. 

On October 13, the United Nations marks the International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction, with the theme being “fighting inequality for a resilient future.” In a statement, the UN says disasters and inequality are two sides of the same coin. Each adversity reinforces the other: unequal access to services leaves the most vulnerable exposed to the danger of disasters; while the effects of disasters exacerbate inequalities and push the most at risk further into poverty.

According to the UN, since most countries at high risk of disasters are also among those with the highest share of the population living under the national poverty line, the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) encourages people to take action to break the cycle of disaster and growing inequality. To mobilise action, the UN agency is raising awareness of the brutal inequality of disasters. 

The day’s theme aligns with the Sendai Framework, the international agreement to prevent and reduce losses in lives, livelihoods, economies and basic infrastructure. The treaty has seven global targets and 38 indicators for measuring progress and complements the Paris Agreement on climate change, with both frameworks interlinked to achieve sustainable development goals.

The observance takes place shortly after the Midterm Review of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030, where the UN General Assembly in May 2023 adopted a political declaration to accelerate action to strengthen disaster resilience.  Focusing on this year’s global survey on people with Disabilities and Disasters, the UN says disasters impact everyone but have a disproportionate impact on persons with disabilities – not because of individual impairments, but because of societal barriers. That is why UNDRR has been championing disability inclusion and commissioned the first global survey on disability and disasters in 2013. In October, the Agency will release the results of the updated survey.  

The International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction was started in 1989, after a call by the UN General Assembly for a day to promote a global culture of risk awareness and disaster reduction. Held every October 13, the day celebrates how people and communities around the world are reducing their exposure to disasters and raising awareness about the importance of reining in the risks that they face.

  In 2015 at the Third UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction at Sendai,  in Japan, the international community was reminded that disasters hit hardest at the local level with the potential to cause loss of life and great social and economic upheaval. Sudden onset disasters displace millions of people every year. Disasters, many of which are exacerbated by climate change, have a negative impact on investment in sustainable development and the desired outcomes.  It is also at the local level that capacities need to be strengthened urgently. The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction is people-focused and action-oriented in its approach to disaster risk reduction and applies to the risk of small-scale and large-scale disasters caused by human-made, or natural hazards, as well as related environmental, technological and biological hazards and risks.  

Cities are the front lines in dealing with disasters and are a major emphasis of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction. They are particularly vulnerable to increasingly frequent and extreme weather hazards, such as storms, and climate change impacts, including water shortages, environmental degradation and unsafe construction in seismic zones.   Every two years, the UNDRR works with thinkers, practitioners, experts and innovators to investigate the state of risk across the globe: highlighting what is new, spotting emerging trends, revealing disturbing patterns, examining behaviour, and presenting progress in reducing risk.  

According to the UN by 2030, with current climate projections, the world will face some 560 disasters a year. About 75% of extreme weather events are currently connected to climate change, fuelled by carbon emissions. In the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, persons with disabilities were twice as likely to die (Rehabilitation International, 2014). From 1970 through 2019, the UN found that 91% of all deaths from weather, climate, and water hazards occurred in developing countries.