Inclusion

Compared to previous volcanic eruptions in Bali, hazard exposure has changed as people are less reliant on local agriculture. But with urbanization there is more infrastructure at risk. As volcanic ashes disrupt air traffic, planning for emergency response to a volcanic eruption must also include alternatives to aid by flight.

The Pacific Climate Change Roundtable (PCCR) has opened in Suva, Fiji, bringing together over 100 participants from across the Pacific to strengthen regional coordination. The PCCR meeting objectives are aligned with the regional efforts towards the upcoming COP23, and the PCCR can help build a bridge between the Paris Agreement and COP23.

WMO is teaming up with five island countries in the Asia-Pacific region to boost their resilience to extreme weather events. They will develop a potential Green Climate Fund (GCF) project that aims to markedly improve the countries’ Early Warning Systems (EWSs). The project is in response to natural hazards exacerbated by climate change.

About one-fifth of Manila's inhabitants live in informal settlements, many of them located in disaster-prone areas that flood during the monsoon rains. The Metro Manila Flood Management Project will improve the city's drainage infrastructure and help protect the city's vulnerable population, many of them poor.

Lack of disability-inclusive evacuation centers and disaster relief in disaster-prone Marikina puts people with disabilities (PWD) at higher risk. There is no legal framework for the rights of PWDs during humanitarian disasters, though guidelines for disability-inclusive disaster response have been compiled by other parties.

People with disabilities (PWD) are left out of the disaster preparedness efforts in Markina, the Philippines. The early warning systems in place are audio signals, which does not meet the needs of people with hearing disability. Until inclusive warning systems are in place, PWD are dependent on their communities to assist them in the event of a disaster.

This paper queries how preparedness discourses impact on people without financial means, capacity or support to prepare. The work situates preparedness within a neoliberal system that is preoccupied with risk management as an economic cost reducing

International Day for Disaster Reduction on October 13 will see the launch of a major awareness raising initiative in Australia on the role that gender plays in disasters and how improved understanding can help reduce the numbers of people affected by disasters, the theme of this year’s International Day.