Putting people at the centre of early action
According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) World Humanitarian Trends 2017, the number of disasters triggered by natural and human-induced hazards continues to rise, due to a combination of increased vulnerability and climate change. Vulnerability to disasters is highest in lower-income countries, particularly in fragile, conflict-affected states characterised by weak institutions and extreme poverty. The Overseas Development Institute’s working paper “Disaster risk reduction in conflict contexts” reports that 58% of deaths from natural disasters occur in the top 30 most fragile states. Whilst media attention invariably focuses on large-scale disasters, UNDRR Global Assessment Report attributes the majority of disaster losses in lower-income countries to smaller scale, recurrent events (floods, storms, landslides).
This working paper highlights critical issues and makes recommendations to put at-risk people at the centre of early action and build partnerships to drive a systemic shift towards an anticipatory humanitarian system.