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The Social Dimensions of Disasters
Julie Dekens, ICIMOD
Prepared for regional training course on“Recent Developments in geo‐hazard disaster management; focusing on earthquake vulnerability reduction in mountain
regions.”
Peshawar University Summer Campus, 21st August 2008
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i f i d b iDisasters are too often conceived as being purely technical, physical issues, whereas they
f d ll i d i h i l dare fundamentally associated with social and governance issues.
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KEY CONCEPTSKEY CONCEPTS
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Hazard
• A potentially damaging p y g gphysical event, phenomenon or human activity that may causeactivity that may cause the loss of life or injury, property damage, social and economic disruptionand economic disruption or environmental degradation.
• Potential threat to human and their welfare
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VulnerabilityVulnerability
• The conditions determined by physical, social, economic, and environmental factors or
h hprocesses, which increase the susceptibility of a
it t th i tcommunity to the impact of hazards.
V = f (Exposure + Sensitivity)
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CapacitiesCapacities
• A combination of all the strengths and resources available within a community, society or
horganization that can reduce the level of risk, or the effects of a disaster.
• E.g., physical, institutional, social or economic , skilled personal or collective attributes such as leadership and management.
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RiskRiskRisk = Hazards x Vulnerability
capacities
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DisastersDisasters
• A serious disruption of the f ti i f itfunctioning of a community or a society causing widespread human, material, economic or environmental losses which exceed the ability of the affected community or society to cope using its own resources. Th li ti f th i k• The realization of the risk
• The failure of development: result of socio‐economic and political structures andpolitical structures and processes.
• Reducing disaster means mitigating the hazard AND/OR dealing with vulnerability/capacity
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KEY QUESTIONSKEY QUESTIONS
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Why people are living at risks?Why people are living at risks?
• Lack of knowledge or lack of ti ?options?
• Risk trade‐offs: People are often facing multiple stresses. For example they often have to makeexample, they often have to make difficult choices between long‐term protection against natural hazard risks and immediate livelihood gains
h i d f d itsuch as income and food security.• Need to consider the multiple
stresses people face (from ‘extraordinary’ to ‘everyday’ risks)extraordinary to everyday risks) rather than focussing solely on the natural hazard
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What are the key factors that influence l ’ l b l dpeople’s vulnerability to disasters?
• Various factors acting atVarious factors acting at different scale (time and space) simultaneously or not– physical , socio‐cultural, i tit ti l hi t i linstitutional, historical, economic, and political factors
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Example: social variablesExample: social variables
• Social variables such as class, caste, ethnicity, gender, disability, health status, age and immigration status contribute to influence:
o Access to resources (including information, knowledge, and technology)
o Access to political power and representationp
o Social capital, including social networks and connections
o Beliefs and customs
Attit d t d ho Attitudes towards changeo …
Each new flood weakens the economic status of this dalit women (Eastern (Terai, Nepal)
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Who are the most vulnerable to disasters?Those who are socially excluded and
economically insecure, those who are less empowered andwho are less empowered and have fewer assets will bear the
highest costs of disasters.
WomenChildrenElders
DisabledEthnic minoritiesEthnic minorities
Poor
DRR must focus on the needs of the most vulnerable.
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Why vulnerability to natural hazards is rising?
• Vulnerability is dynamic. It is constructed simultaneously on more than one scale.
• Changing risk factors• Need to consider the micro‐
macro links:macro links:E.g., global markets, national policies, regional
i t lenvironmental processes, community gender relations, household decision making
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Feminization of rural areas: what are the impacts for DRR, health sector, …?what are the impacts for DRR, health sector, …?
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How vulnerability and poverty are li k d?linked?
• Vulnerability is not ysynonymous of poverty but they are closely linked
P– Poverty = processes generating failure to meet basic needs ‐material
d h l h dneeds, health and education, rights, social and cultural security
– Vulnerability = factors influencing exposure to natural hazards
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Why local belief systems do matter?Why local belief systems do matter?
People’s beliefs (e.g., socio‐cultural and
religious belief systems)systems)
Values and moral principles (e.g., respect, reciprocity,
Worldviews
p y,sharing, and humility)
(i.e., ways of perceiving the
world)
Ethics
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Why local belief systems do matter?• Explain why people do things
the way they do?People have bounded– People have bounded rationalities: their rationality is limited to their own information, beliefs and (economic) tradeoffsbeliefs and (economic) tradeoffs.
• Influence perceptions, exposure and response to risks/hazards
• Play important psychological purpose:– help to create shared cultural– help to create shared cultural
attitudes and community spirit
– Reduces sense of people’s helplessness; give meaning to
A Sherpa painting of mountain hazards in Khumbu Himal (Norbu cited in Bjonness 1986)helplessness; give meaning to
things that they cannot control and/or understand
Khumbu Himal (Norbu cited in Bjonness, 1986)
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Beliefs are the attenuators and amplifiers of natural hazardsof natural hazards
• Case 1: the flood and the veil ‐ protection factor or risk p(Dekens 2007)
• Case 2: The purdah system and women’s access to i f ti l t d t l f t (H ll 2003)information related to cyclone forecasts (Howell 2003)
• Case 3: Religion and water management: the Subak system in Bali (Indonesia), ponds management in the Kathmandu ( ), p gvalley (Nepal)
• Case 4: Praying as one community response to drought (Pratt 2002)2002)
Upcoming E-conference: September 22- October 3rd, 2008 p g p(ICIMOD, Mountain Forum)
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What is the acceptable level of risk to us?What is the acceptable level of risk to us?
• The level of loss a society or dcommunity considers
acceptable given existing social, economic, political, cultural technical andcultural, technical and environmental conditions
• Important because we cannot reduce all riskscannot reduce all risks
• Level of preparedness needs to match acceptable risksrisks
• Transparency of decision‐making
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EXAMPLE OF CONCEPTUALEXAMPLE OF CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
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“Crunch” Pressure and Release (PAR) model
HazardVulnerability component
Root Causes: National & International
Political
Social frame: Social
Structures & Power Systems D
Flood
Cyclone
Livelihood & its resilience
Political Economy
Power relations
Power Systems
ClassIS Cyclone
EarthquakeBase‐line statusWell‐being
Demographics
Conflicts & War
Gender
Ethnicity
SAS Tsunami
Volcanic eruption
Self‐protection
Social P t ti
Conflicts & War
Environmental Trends
Ethnicity
Caste
Oth
ST
eruption
Drought
d lid
Protection
GovernanceDebt Crises
Etc
Other power relationships E
R
22
Landslide
BiologicalSource: Wisner et al., 2004
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KEY LINKAGESKEY LINKAGES
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Disaster and LivelihoodsDisaster and Livelihoods
• Making a living (versus g g (having a job) – determined by the combination of assets, activities and access to theseactivities and access to these (mediated by institutions and social relations) (Ellis 2000)
d d• Reducing disaster vulnerability requires FIRST strengthening livelihoods g gparticularly among marginalized and vulnerable groupsgroups
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Disaster and Power relationsDisaster and Power relations
• The exercise of control over d i i kiresources, decision‐making
processes, knowledge creation, transmission, interpretation, and validation.
• DRR = a political process – International, state, elite
concerns/interests orregional power struggles prevail atregional power struggles, prevail at the expense ofthe local, gender, age, ethic, etc. issues DRR threatens to change power– DRR threatens to change power relations between different groups, ideologies, cultures, and so on.
– The support of a particular type of mitigation measure can favor onemitigation measure can favor one social group or areas over another
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Disaster and GovernanceDisaster and Governance
• Change requires policy and g q p ypolicy requires change ‐‐ but changing behavior and power relations is difficultpower relations is difficult.
• Institutional change is hampered by hierarchical
lstructures, institutional inertia, and path dependency
• Policy enforcement is oftenPolicy enforcement is often hampered by lack of adequate resources
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Disaster and DevelopmentDisaster and Development
(Source: UNISDR 2008, Words into action)
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Disaster and the MediaDisaster and the Media
• Emphasis on ‘saleable news’ and sensationalismEmphasis on saleable news and sensationalism
YETYET ....
• Small and medium scale disasters also often have huge• Small and medium scale disasters also often have huge impacts on the livelihoods of the poor and vulnerable groups. g p– `The number of small and medium scale disasters is growing much faster than large‐scale disasters.
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LESSONSLESSONS
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“Disasters work like the magnifying glass of aDisasters work like the magnifying glass of a society. They magnify what is good and what needs sincere help. Disasters do not affect
everyone equally. Who you are and what you do determine your fate. The strong and the
k d Thi i f d iweak stand out. This is true for gender issues as much as for other issues.”
Civil servant, Rajasthan, India (Schwoebel and Menon 2004)
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Social & Political Contexts of DisastersSocial & Political Contexts of Disasters
• Disasters are never solely ‘natural’ events
• Impacts are shaped by pre‐disaster conditions & policies that create social & structural vulnerabilities
• Social composition of affected population & cultural l d ff l k fnorms explain differential risk of certain groups over
others
U d d iti & l ti b f th• Underserved communities & populations before the disaster will be underserved later
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Vulnerability is • Need to identify how general ysocially
differentiated.
y gimpacts, risks, or hazards understood at a macro level may affect specific groups ord e e a ed may affect specific groups or regions in different ways
• Measures must focus on the d f h l bl
Hazards have diff ti t d
needs of the most vulnerable (those who have fewer assets and are less empowered )
differentiated impacts.
p )• Data must be disaggregated
by gender, age, etc.
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Why is it important?Why is it important?
• Often overlooked: the belief in “technical fix”Often overlooked: the belief in technical fix , “command‐and‐control” solutions is still dominantdominant
• Contribute to develop strategies that are in tune with local needs and contexts (incl thetune with local needs and contexts (incl. the needs of the most vulnerable)
P id l f h i i i i f i i i• Provide clues for the prioritization of activities