Interview

Lea says the lack of gender equality in decision-making has made it harder for women to be heard in disaster planning and in all aspects of Philippine society.

Josephine Castillo ‘Jhocas’ helped start DAMPA after the demolition of a division of settlements of urban poor in Manila in the 1980’s. The network shares best practices to transform communities by building resilience.

Despite many innovations in humanitarian work like digital connectivity and anticipatory action, gender inequality remains a challenge in Bangladesh, says Rumana.

Manisha’s nursing career began with a tragedy. After just six months of nursing practice, there was a deadly accident in a nearby village where she

CERIS Disaster Resilient Societies platform links different DRR policies and also strengthens opportunities for transdisciplinary and transboundary joint efforts to work with different actors.

‘As people we can implement manmade solutions to help change the situation,’ John says, ‘because if floods are happening it is due to deforestation, soil erosion and land degradation.’

The volunteers enable residents to identify risks where they live – themselves – and use that knowledge to prevent future disasters.

Education and awareness saves lives and will reduce the amount of damage during earthquakes or other disasters.

Women work hard to protect their families before, during and after a disaster, but they are sometimes not included in disaster planning.

Some glaciers in the Karakoram region are surging instead of melting slowly, leading to the formation of glacial lakes that can burst. An estimated seven million people in northern Pakistan are at risk of glacial lake outburst floods.