Reducing the Risk of Disasters - Helping to Achieve Sustainable Poverty Reduction in a Vulnerable World: A DFID Policy Paper

This paper summarizes 'The Department for International Development' (DFID) policy on disaster risk reduction as it applies to natural and technological disasters.The paper:

• Sets out key elements of disaster risk reduction and explains its importance;
• Aims to provide guidance to DFID staff, United Kingdom (UK) Government departments and development partners;
• Discusses how DFID works at the regional level and within the international system.

The paper makes the following points:

• Disasters affect poor countries and poor people the most;
• Absolute levels of disaster risk are increasing due to various pressures, including climate change;
• Disasters pose a growing threat to development;
• There are cost effective policy choices that can lower risk within the reach of even the poorest;
• Policy makers are often reluctant to dedicate appropriate resources;
• DFID aims to contribute to sustainable development through reducing the burden of disasters on the poor. Its objectives in achieving this are to:
  • Support an improved international system and strong institutional structures at the national and regional level that aim to reduce risk in disaster-prone developing countries;
  • Integrate risk reduction into development and humanitarian policy and planning;
  • Reduce the vulnerability of the poor through building capacity and livelihood resilience to disaster risk.
• The paper concludes by identifying three strands of financing for DFID's disaster risk reduction policy.