Integrating Disaster Risk into Development

1. Integrating Disaster Risk into Development Hazards and Opportunities Adrian Sayers

2. Presentation Focus • Show relevance of disaster mitigation to development in the Western Cape • Show the opportunities & hazards in integrating disaster mitigation into prov. structures and processes • Show the hazardous impact of past perceptions on disaster risk management • Underline importance of strategic advocacy in aligning disaster risk with other human security issues and provincial structures/processes

3. Background Information on the “Cape of Storms” • Population approximately 4 million • Total land area of 1.3 million km2 , 1 332 km coastline • Vast socio-economic disparities • Exposure to extreme weather conditions • Diverse ecosystems, including desert interior and coastal forests

4. The ‘Hazard’ of Past Perceptions of Disasters • Inadequacy of past approaches in C.M.A. (in just one year, from Aug ’99-July 2000) • 1 x tornadic storm • 1 x major wild fire • Thousands of informal settlement fires

5. The ‘Manenberg Tornado’ August 1999 Picture Source: http://www.mg.co.za/news/99sep1/3sep-storm.html

6. The South Peninsula Fires(January, 2000) Picture Source: http://www.uni-freiburg.de/fireglobe/iffn/country/za/za_14.htm

7. Informal Settlements at-Risk(Floods) Photo source: Cape Argus, August 2001

8. Developmental Impact of these events • Direct and indirect economic loss (diversion of funds from development priorities) • Environmental loss (impact on tourist income & increased erosion/landslide risk) • Lost lives, livelihoods, housing, impacts on health and sense of security

9. These losses illustrate how past perceptions about disasters have effectively disengaged our management of disaster risk from other aspects of development planning, responsible governance and civil responsibility

10. ….because, in the past we • Focused mainly on large, but rare economically costly disasters • Considered that disasters were events that should be managed, rather than being a civil responsibility to prevent/mitigate • Compartmentalized different disasters according to constituency-specific and sector-specificcategories

11. The Implications from an Institutional Perspective • Difficulty in determining ‘true’ developmental cost of repeated disaster incidents across sectors & communities • ‘Fragmentation’ of government, non-governmental, private sector and other responses • Marginalisation of the field from mainstream of development planning

12. Strategic Advocacy: “Moving Disaster Risk into the Mainstream” • It needs: • Clarity on disaster risk & its developmental relevance • Understanding political process, incl. Prov. planning, budgeting, institutional structures • Political receptivity & opportunity for civil society to engage • Organized civil society response

13. In the Western Cape, • Disaster risk reduction is increasingly viewed as a priority for human security(like crime prevention & health promotion) • It now features as a key priority of the Province’s next 3-4 yr Strategic Plan, with likely budget commitments • Perceived as a ‘transversal’function • It promotes focused consultation between government and civil society, & adds value to processes of cooperative governance

14. Sustainable development in our “Cape of Storms” Cape requires commitment to promote both: a “culture of responsible local governance” and a “culture of disaster prevention”