Countries must include animals in disaster plans to save communities

Source(s): World Animal Protection

To mark International Day for Disaster Reduction on 13 October, World Animal Protection is urging governments across the globe to ensure that national efforts to reduce disaster risk include animal protection.

Animal health, welfare and protection has massive implications for community nutrition, food security and agricultural output. 2.5 billion people around the world are small-scale farmers, herders, pastoralists, fishers or are forest-dependent – all of them rely on animals for their livelihoods. 18 of the poorest countries are reliant on livestock.

Animal-dependent communities are extremely vulnerable to disasters; many of the countries with the highest densities of livestock keepers are also those with high multi-hazard ratings. A comprehensive study of 78 post-disaster needs assessments, covering 48 developing countries, found that crop and livestock losses amounted to more than $24 billion.

World Animal Protection deploys teams around the world when disasters hit - most recently to Sulawesi, Indonesia, following the tsunami just a couple of weeks ago.

Steve McIvor, CEO of World Animal Protection, says:

“Sulawesi is a painful reminder that governments need to prepare for disasters. In addition to the high loss of human and animal life, the agricultural, fishing and cattle breeding industries have been badly damaged. This will have a long-term effect on the recovery of this region.”

Target C of the Sendai Framework, an international agreement adopted by UN member states with the aim of reducing disaster risk globally, is the focus of this year’s International Day for Disaster Reduction. It centres on reducing disaster economic losses in relation to global GDP by 2030.

Steve McIvor continues:

“To successfully reduce disaster economic losses all over the world, the protection of animals must be taken more seriously. Through our work in Africa, Latin America and Asia-Pacific we have seen economies and communities suffer from a lack of preparedness. It is essential that animal-inclusive disaster risk reduction strategies are adopted.”

7 million animals in 50 years

For more than 50 years, we have worked with governments, humanitarian organisations and grassroots communities to reduce vulnerability to disasters.

Since 1964, we have provided aid to over 7 million animals affected by disasters, in 250 responses.

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