Recognize the importance of
DRR on one’s life
Disaster Risk Reduction: Why is it important?
Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) education is crucial for all communities living in disaster prone
areas. Asia Pacific Region, where Philippines is located, is considered as the most disaster prone
region in the world, facing numerous hazards, from severe flooding to storms to volcanic
eruptions to tsunamis and earthquakes.
https://projectchild.ngo/blog/2017/01/23/the-importance-of-drr-education-empowering-communities-tomitigate-natural-hazards/
A disaster risk reduction assists us to consider our emergency response activities in light of
existing and new disaster risks. This enables us to design or adjust our activities so that people
and communities become safer and more disaster-resilient, as well as safeguarding efforts to
create and expand enabling conditions for sustainable poverty alleviation and development.
Building resilience: Is the main importance of disaster risk reduction. disaster risk reduction is
vital for building a more equitable and sustainable future.
Making investments in prevention and preparedness, including through civil defense exercises,
is a necessary part of systematic efforts to increase resilience to disaster.
Example of Disaster prone hazard
1. FLOOD HAZARD 2. STORM HAZARD 3. VOLCANIC
ERUPTION HAZARD
4. TSUNAMI HAZARD 5. EARTHQUAKE
ZONE HAZARD
Five priorities identified for action are:
1)to ensure that disaster risk reduction is a national and a
local priority;
2)to identify, assess, and monitor disaster risks and enhance
early warning systems;
3)to use knowledge, innovation, and education to build a
culture of safety and resilience at all levels;
4)to reduce the underlying risk factors;
5)to strengthen disaster preparedness for effective response
and recovery at all levels, from the local to the national.
Responsibility for disaster risk management does not lie with disaster managers alone.
It is rather a concern for everyone - from citizens who must be empowered to make
decisions which reduce risk, to political leaders, government institutions, the private
sector, civil society organisations, professional bodies, and scientific and technical
institutions.
(Clark, Helen 2012)
https://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/ourperspective/ourperspectivearticles/2012/08/15/buildingresilience-the-importance-of-disaster-risk-
reduction.html
Risk communication must be clear and simple. In our current times, to communicate
risks effectively with populations, communities, families and individuals is essential for
everyone to be better prepared when disaster and crisis hit. This is a challenging task,
as normally people don’t want to hear about “dangerous things”. Some are afraid of
even thinking about the possibility of an earthquake, a tropical cyclone, floods,
landslides, tsunamis or even the most common household hazards, such as fire, hitting
their homes.
Every organization and government engaged in disaster risk reduction
awareness must plan and communicate harmonized messages – a key
element to avoid confusion. As a consequence, we increase people’s
confidence in acting to make themselves safer. It starts with one
individual, a family, neighbors, the whole community, a city, a country
and even the whole region.
From a development perspective, therefore, disaster risk reduction is
vital for building a more equitable and sustainable future. Making
investments in prevention and preparedness, including through civil
defense exercises, is a necessary part of systematic efforts to increase
resilience to disaster.
Why disaster risk reduction is important during
and after emergencies:
A disaster risk reduction approach helps us consider our emergency response activities in light
of existing and new disaster risks. This enables us to design or adjust our activities so that
people and communities become safer and more disaster-resilient, as well as safeguarding efforts
to create and expand enabling conditions for sustainable poverty alleviation and development.
DRR approaches and tools will prevent relief work from rebuilding the vulnerabilities that made
people prone to similar disasters. DRR provides valuable insights into the underlying factors of
vulnerability to hazards and the features of those hazards. It helps us identify and map local
capacities to cope with these hazards. Ultimately, the DRR approach helps us conduct effective
disaster response while reducing risks that similar disasters will reoccur. It also ensures that
our emergency response does no harm by replacing or reinstating critical vulnerabilities.
https://www.careemergencytoolkit.org/topics-issues/34-drr/1-introduction/1-4-why-disaster-risk-reduction-isimportant-during-and-after-
emergencies/
