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CARE International Policy Brief - For Internal CARE Use Only
November 2008
Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR)
During the last four decades the number of natural disasters per year has steeply risen, from approximately
125 in the 1970s up to 400 - 500 in this decade (CRED, EM-DAT database). They yearly affect 250 million
people, especially in developing countries, and result in considerable setbacks in achieving the Millennium
Development Goals. Furthermore, humanitarian aid and development efforts are increasingly being
undermined as achievements are wiped out because of frequent hazards, often striking with unprecedented
intensity and magnitude. CARE International identified Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) as one of its priorities
within the organization’s mandate regarding humanitarian assistance, reconstruction and development.
CARE considers DRR one of the pillars of poverty alleviation, effectively linking relief and development by
providing significant added value in the analysis of the underlying causes of poverty from both needs- and
rights-based angles, leading to strategies towards improved Human Conditions, Improved Social Positions
and the creation of a Sound Enabling Environment (compare CARE’s Unifying Framework for Poverty
Eradication & Social Justice).
Disaster risk reduction (DRR) is a broad and relatively new concept. The term is generally understood to
mean the broad development and application of policies, strategies and practices to minimize vulnerabilities
and disaster risks throughout society. Or: DRR is a systematic approach to identifying, assessing and
reducing the risks of disaster. By promoting DRR, CARE International aims to reduce socio-economic
vulnerabilities to disaster as well as dealing with the climate, environmental and other hazards that trigger
them. DRR is very wide-ranging; Within CARE International, DRR is promoted as an integral part of the
organizational, policy and programming frameworks and practices of both relief and development
communities, rather than an add-on or one-off action. There is potential for DRR initiatives in just about
every sector of development and humanitarian work.
Key Messages
 CARE recognizes the need for a more structural approach to DRR, within its own organization world-wide
and among its various development partners.
 CARE considers DRR foremost as a cross cutting issue in that all humanitarian and development
activities need to be planned and implemented with an appropriate understanding and consideration of
the entire risk constellation in which these activities are undertaken. This implies that risk analyses need
to be integrated at the initial stages of the project cycle and the findings fully taken into account in all
subsequent steps. This will lead to projects and programmes in the spectrum of relief, reconstruction and
development that enable people to establish and structurally enhance their livelihoods, in a safe and
disaster-resilient manner.
 In certain locations, CARE promotes explicit DRR programmes, particularly where development activities
are structurally being undermined by disasters and where people’s livelihoods are evidently under major
threat of, specifically, natural disasters. In these cases, the linkage between poverty reduction and
increased safety and resilience to disasters is so weak that explicit DRR strategies and programmes are
justified and even preferred, at least for the short- and medium-term.
 Proper risk assessments and planning for DRR activities require effective and well-oriented participation
from the people and communities at risk, as well as dedicated and well-trained staff familiar with
participatory DRR assessment and planning tools.
 Capacity building on DRR-related issues of its own staff and partner organizations, as well as advocacy
for a more consistent consideration of the increasing disaster risks at all levels constitute important fields
of activities, requiring appropriate allocation of human and financial resources.
 DRR and Climate Change Adaptation have similar and mutual benefits. Therefore, CARE International
aims to adopt an integrated approach to these issues. This means practitioners and policy makers from
both disciplines will intensify collaboration and advocate for each other’s agendas. CARE International’s
DRR specialists will make DRR information, guidelines and tools more available and accessible for
climate change practitioners and policy makers. In turn, the CARE International DRR community should
let itself be informed of risks posed by climate change and should develop new partnerships with
institutions and bodies working on climate change and its impacts on the most vulnerable population
groups in developing countries.
Background
 Since the 1990s, it has become widely recognized that development initiatives do not necessarily reduce
vulnerability to natural hazards. This signifies that disasters should no longer be considered as mere signs
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November 2008
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of under-development. Instead, development actions, however good and commendable, can
unintentionally create new forms of vulnerability or exacerbate existing ones, often with tragic
consequences.
 Disaster risks are increasingly global in nature. Because of factors such as climate change and economic
globalization, actions in one part of the world may have significant impact on disaster risks in another part.
This, together with growing vulnerabilities to hazards, as a result of factors such as demographic trends,
increasing scarcity and degradation of natural resources, loss of traditional values, knowledge and social
networks, rampant market economies and unplanned urbanization, determine a future where disasters will
increasingly challenge any development efforts and threaten the world’s population and economy.
Current Issues and Debates
Among multilateral and bilateral development institutions, interest in DRR is growing, as evinced by the
numerous initiatives to promote and implement DRR activities:
 Recently, the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development (DFID), Inter-American
Development Bank (ADB), the African Union (AU)/New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), the
African Development Bank (AfDB) and the Asia Development Bank (ADB) have considerably revised their
disaster policies, all with a new or stronger emphasis on the reduction or mitigation of the likely impact of
disasters that might occur and on integrating risk reduction into development and humanitarian policies
and planning.
 The World Bank recommends assistance which makes provisions to give more attention to natural hazards
during the appraisal of investment projects generally, and specifically in the preparation of PRSPs (Poverty
Reduction Strategy Papers), CASs (Country Assistance Strategies) and other strategic documents.
 Other bilateral donors currently promoting disaster risk reduction considerations into their poverty
alleviation programmes include the European Commission (EC), the Canadian International Development
Agency (CIDA), the Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA), the Gesellschaft für Technische
Zusammenarbeit (GTZ), the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), the
Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC).
 In January 2005, the World Conference on Disaster Reduction adopted the Hyogo Framework for Action,
‘2005 – 2015: Building Resilience of Nations and Communities to Disasters. The UN and other institutions
were called to integrate DRR considerations into development frameworks, including the Common Country
Assessments, the United Nations Development Assistance Framework and poverty reduction strategies.
This marked the shift in perspective from a previously widely accepted view of disasters as unpredictable
and unavoidable events to be addressed by emergency specialists toward a deeper understanding of the
underlying causes of disasters. New, people-centered methods were developed and practiced in order to
analyze the multi-dimensional aspects of disasters and disaster risks, with a strong focus on patterns of
vulnerability to hazards and local coping capacities.
 The UN recognized the important role of national and international NGOs in promoting DRR and their
(potential) effectiveness in mainstreaming this as a cross-cutting issue into efforts aiming at structural
poverty alleviation, particularly at community levels. Therefore, in June 2007 the UN International Strategy
for Disaster Reduction (ISDR) facilitated the establishment of the Global Network of NGOs, with the goal to
contribute to the growing global effort to reduce the impact of disasters, and build disaster-resilient
communities. CARE International is a member of this network and the CARE DRR activities were
published in the Global Network’s magazine for “Good Practices and Lessons Learnt”.
 The Bali Action Plan, agreed at the thirteenth session of the Conference of the Parties of the UN
Framework Convention on Climate Change held in Bali, Indonesia, December 2007, will guide the
negotiations over 2008 – 2009 on the global climate regime to apply from 2012. Governments recognized
the importance of risk reduction for adaptation, calling for enhanced action on adaptation in paragraph 1
(c) ii and iii on the Plan, considering in particular:
- Risk management and risk reduction strategies, including risk sharing and transfer mechanisms
such as insurance;
- Disaster reduction strategies and means to address loss and damage.
The inclusion of disaster risk reduction in the Bali Action Plan is a major success that will have positive
repercussions for reducing disaster risks in future. The ISDR system partners and secretariat played an
important role in this respect through their inputs to the internal UN preparatory processes coordinated by
the UN Secretary-General over 2007 and the UNFCCC secretariat.
CARE and DRR
CARE, as a member of the Global Network of NGOs for Disaster Risk Reduction, strongly supports any
efforts toward a more structural approach of DRR at all levels and of a more effective implementation of the
Hyogo Framework for Action, with the objective to build safe and resilient communities and nations. There is
still a great need to enhance understanding and application of DRR concepts and of accompanying tools
and guidelines. Most importantly, these concepts, tools and guidelines need to be further tested and
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upgraded in the field, and CARE is committed to significantly contributing to this by allocating qualified staff
and adequate finances, providing capacity-building for its own and partner staff and by networking with other
relevant organizations.
Though the DRR terminology is still somewhat ambiguous, it is clear that disasters are generated by two
factors: hazards and vulnerability to these hazards. It is particularly the vulnerability component which can
be addressed, preferably by building upon existing coping mechanisms. Vulnerability to hazards and local
coping mechanisms are complex issues, understanding of which requires major experiences with and
commitment to the people and communities at stake. CARE has been able to maintain qualified staff
members, local and international, who embark on the integration of DRR considerations into all poverty
alleviation action with relative ease. At management levels, it ought to be ensured that these staff members
continue to be approached with appropriate capacity-building opportunities, motivation strategies and
feedback, geared toward an even better comprehension of DRR principles and methods, while enabling
them to apply and adapt these to the specific situation of the targeted communities.
But, of course, CARE’s mandate is not confined to working at grassroots levels. Because of the strong and
long-standing presence in the field, the organization will rapidly accumulate knowledge on and
understanding of the causes of vulnerability to disasters at many locations and among a wide variety of
nations and communities. This will enable the organization to effectively participate in DRR decision-making
and advocacy processes at any echelons, at national, regional and global levels. Importantly, the CARE
DRR community seeks to more actively engage in national and international climate change policy teams
negotiating on the Bali Action Plan, to promote a stronger and more consistent role for DRR post-2012.
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