the sendai framework for action
TRANSCRIPT
June 1990: the United Nationsinaugurates the International Decade
for Natural Disaster Reduction (IDNDR)
• 140 nations establishnational IDNDR committees
• a few large international projectsare created (e.g., Radius, a projectfor the reduction of urban seismic risk)
• two large strategic conferencesare organised at the world level.
• the degree of success was limited:in ten years the IDNDR did nothalve the impact of disasters,as specified among its objectives
• but the Decade did assist thegrowth of international collaborationand the formulation of strategiesdesigned to combat natural disasters.
• make DRR a national and local prioritywith a strong institutional basis
• identify, assess and monitor disasterrisks and enhance early warning
• use knowledge, innovation and educationto build a culture of safety & resilience
• reduce the underlying risk factors
• strengthen disaster preparednessfor effective response at all levels.
HFA priorities for action
• non-binding; little or no monitoring
• missing key elements: corruption,gender, rights, minorities, etc.
• vague about ways and means
• does it really deal withthe causes of disaster?
• UN no-go areas? .
HFA shortcomings
• signing up to a non-binding agreementdoes not necessarily mean DRR action
• unscrupulous politicians can be legitimised at home and abroad
• good DRR is not exactlya top-down process
• collects evidence but usesit at best selectively
• accountability remains weak.
Deficiencies of the UN process
FORIN: Forensic Investigationof Disasters
"disaster risk creation, not reduction"
Alexander, D.E. 2012. The 'Titanic Syndrome': risk andcrisis management on the Costa Concordia. Journal of
Homeland Security and Emergency Mgt 9(1); article 33.
"The City of Venice joined the[UNISDR Safe Cities] Campaign
as a Role Model for cultural heritageprotection and climate change adaptation."
• effect of heroin addiction onthe reconstruction of Bam, Iran
• introduction of repressive Shia andblasphemy laws in Aceh and Padang
• colossal waste of public money ontransitional shelter in L'Aquila, Italy
• government insensitivity to culturalheritage protection in Christchurch.
Reality check:
• widening wealth gap since 1970
• failure to divert resources fromresponse to prevention and mitigation
• half of world trade goesthrough 78 tax havens
• one fifth of world trade is illicit(drugs, armaments, people, species)
• relationship of proxy wars to aid.
More reality check:
• resources that debilitatelocal coping capacity
• munitions, military hardware, soldiertraining and some humanitarian stuff
• an instrument of political influence
• a means of liningcertain people's pockets.
What is aid?
• BIG concrete on poor people's land
• of direct benefit to the donor countries
• aid is in DEEP CRISIS.
What is aid?
• denial or restriction ofaccess to information
• lack of self-determination and autonomyof decision-making about safety
• oppression, aggression and violence;failure to protect the vulnerable
• forced migration; denial of resources
• inequality, injustice and corruption.
DRR and human rights violations
• colossal imbalances in power and wealth
• immense but eminently solvable problemsthat are not solved because there ispowerful opposition to attempts to do so
• huge differences in thedefinition of what is rational
• many key activities are notlegitimate by any standards.
What is the world actually like?
• communities and governmentsare not necessarily goodat or committed to DRR
• power structures determine disaster
• evidence and research are seldomthe basis of policy or actions
• rationality depends on contextand reality differs by person.
Yet more reality
• corruption
• political decision-making
• shoddy building (often wilful)
• ignorance (sometimes wilful)
• seismicity.
What causes earthquake disasters?- in probable order of importance -
Compared to theoriginal plans,this hospital lackedmore than 500concrete beams.In the earthquake,there was massmortality in thematernity wing.
• difficult to define
• virtually impossible to measure
• extremely pervasive, endogenous
• moral and ethical frameworks vary
• links with other ills (black economy).
Corruption
• to last until 2030 (15 years)
• tackles health, human rights anddisplacement (including forcedmigration), but with little detail
• women, children, elderly, animals in it
• minorities mentioned, not much detail.
Sendai Framework highlights
• weak links with climate change andsustainable development agendas
• no clear commitment to financialaid for poorer countries to do DRR
• includes targets, but notprecisely defined ones
• creates a working group to applyindicators and measure progress.
Sendai Framework highlights
• represents some sort ofinternational consensus
• a framework for policy and actions
• reminds countries of their responsibilities
• an agenda for international collaboration
• implementation progress to be monitored.
What value does a non-legally-bindinginternational agreement have?
• top-down DRR doesn't work
• countries can evade their responsibilities
• it cannot be policed
• vague on details, hence implementation
• poorly connected to the wider agenda.
What value does a non-legally-bindinginternational agreement have?
Let's lay it on the line: everythingmentioned in the Sendai Frameworkshould be done by all countries ofthe world, and those with more
resources should help those with fewer.
But DRR offers a wide rangeof opportunities to avoid it.
In Japan, Fukushima Daiichi destroyedthe relationship of trust between
the people, government and science.
Organisationalsystems:management
Socialsystems:behaviour
Naturalsystems:function
Technicalsystems:
malfunction
VulnerabilityHazard
Resilienc
e
Politicalsystems:decisions
RISKSdaily: unemployment, poverty, disease, etc.major disaster: floods, storms, quakes, etc.emerging risks: pandemics, climate change
SUSTAINABILITYdisaster risk reduction
resource consumptionstewardship of the environment
economic activitieslifestyles and communities
SUSTAINABILITY
[email protected]/dealexander
emergency-planning.blogspot.com
Thank you for your attention
Ishinomaki Mangattan Museum, 2011 tsunami area