Global Report on Human Settlements 2007 - PoA-ISS

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202 Natural and human-made disasters Box 8.6 Community action builds leadership and resilience in Santo Domingo, the Dominican Republic The Dominican Disaster Mitigation Committee (DDMC) is a national non-governmental organization (NGO) that, with support from the Organization of American States (OAS), has sought to build local capacity as an integral part of its disaster risk reduction work in the city of Santo Domingo. Activities implemented by the DDMC include community mapping of local hazards, vulnerabilities and capacities, as well as leadership training. Communities are then invited to draw up competitive proposals for hazard mitigation projects where costs are split between DDMC and the local community. This approach generates multiple outputs. At one level, a risk reduction project is supported. More fundamental is the experience gained by grassroots actors of undertaking risk assessments and developing project proposals for external funding. The DDMC will only cover 50 per cent of the costs for any project proposal, requiring the community to raise additional funds or resources in kind through labour. The DDMC will also not provide financial support for any additional projects, thereby encouraging local actors to build on their experience to apply for funding from other NGO or government sources. Seven communities in Santo Domingo have taken part in the programme, with 2000 people benefiting directly. Activities have included building local sewer systems, storm drains, a flood dike and an anti-landslide wall. Building local capacity in the communities has not only reduced risk, but has also enhanced disaster response. In one community, Mata Mamon, in 1998, Hurricane Georges caused damage to 75 per cent of houses. It was the local community who managed aid distribution when the first supplies arrived after ten days. Source: Pelling, 2003; see also Dominican Association of Disaster Mitigation, www.desastre.org/home/index.php4?lang=esp While community solidarity can be an asset for disaster risk reduction, communities are not inherently harmonious… Venezuela. This community was among those exposed to the extreme flooding and landslides of 1999, which killed 30,000 people. According to an official from the organization Ecumenical Action-ACT: 26 … the organization of the neighbourhood and the solidarity of the people saved hundreds of lives … as the flooding progressed, community members mobilized to assist one another. Neighbours who knew each other and had worked together for years communicated swiftly the news of the rising water. Older residents were helped from their homes by younger neighbours. When a few were reluctant to leave because they didn’t believe the threat or because they were afraid their few possessions could be stolen, neighbours broke down doors and carried people forcibly to safety… In one incident where we were trying, unsuccessfully, to kick down the heavy door of a woman who refused to leave her house, a young gang member came along, pulled out a pistol and fired into the lock, allowing the door to be opened. The gang member then pointed his gun at the woman and ordered her out of her house. Seconds after she left the dwelling, the house fell into the raging current … perhaps as few as 15 people died, a very small figure compared to other similar neighbourhoods where hundreds lost their lives. The urban population is a key resource during times of disaster, as demonstrated in Mexico City, where, following the 1985 earthquake, up to 1 million volunteers helped in rescue and relief operations. 27 Where disaster risk is a dominant aspect of everyday life, it can become a concern around which local associations organize and remain engaged with development. A great diversity of local associations can contribute to disaster risk reduction, including kinship, religious and gender- or youthbased groups, as well as groups organized around particular interests, such as sports, environmental or social improvement. All of these groups, and not only those that are development or disaster oriented, can play a role in building networks of support and, thus, disaster resilience. It is those communities who have a rich stock of associations that are also most likely to engage in risk reduction at the local level. Furthermore, local associations can act as intermediaries, conveying information between local residents and external actors seeking to build local resilience. They can also enrich externally funded risk reduction projects by sharing knowledge of local customs, environmental hazards, social vulnerability and capacity. While community solidarity can be an asset for disaster risk reduction, communities are not inherently harmonious entities. Rather, they are heterogeneous and are often cross-cut by internal competition, information asymmetries and socio-economic inequality. This can undermine community-level risk reduction projects, leading to interventions exacerbating inequalities and undermining collective resilience. For example, in many communities, women may predominate in the membership of community groups, but may be excluded from leadership. This is a missed opportunity. 28 An Indian NGO, Swayam Shiksam Prayong, has attempted to address this concern by enacting a philosophy of not only rebuilding physical structures, but realigning social relations in post-disaster periods. A priority was to work with women to facilitate their visions of life after the earthquake, which included, for example, assigning land titles to both women and men. 29 Box 8.7 offers some examples of ways in which women have taken a lead in reducing local disaster risk. External agencies seeking to work with communitylevel partners in disaster risk reduction must also be cautious not to assume that community leaders represent the best interests of local residents. Following the Bhuj earthquake in Gujarat (India) in 2001, international and government aid prioritized speed in distribution of goods, which enabled high-cast groups to capture a disproportionate amount of aid at the expense of lower-cast groups and Muslims. 30 This observation underlines the advantages of disaster risk reduction and response work that is built on sound knowledge of local political and social rivalries, as well as capacities for collective action to build resilience. Building the capacity of local authorities is also vital for disaster risk reduction. The Asian Urban Disaster Mitigation Program (AUDMP) works to build local- and citylevel capacity across Asia. One of its projects in the city of Ratnapura (Sri Lanka) seeks to improve the disaster risk management capacity of local authorities by providing them with improved tools and skills. This involved the development of a methodology for identifying hazards and determining potential losses. Outputs have included the
Policy responses to disaster risk 203 formation of a Disaster Management Council, guidelines for building construction in disaster-prone areas and a Disaster Management and Mitigation Plan for Ratnapura. 31 Legal approaches The Universal Declaration of Human Rights already supports the right to personal security and a basic standard of living during periods of unforeseen livelihood disruption. 32 The human rights agenda offers a potentially powerful tool for local actors to argue for increased pre-disaster investment and post-disaster compensation. It offers a moral imperative that could mobilize local political will. 33 Rights-based approaches that seek to justify investment in prevention are increasingly being supported by economic analysis, which shows the financial savings to be made by investing in risk reduction before a disaster, compared to the costs of managing disasters through relief and reconstruction. The UK Department for International Development (DFID) estimates that for every US$1 invested in disaster risk reduction, between US$2 and $4 are returned in terms of avoided or reduced disaster impacts. 34 The failure of the international community to set a legally binding international treaty on disaster risk reduction in the Hyogo Framework for Action 2005–2015, 35 and the absence of disaster risk targets in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), however, limits the international pressure that can be used to support local actors at risk. Nationally, an increasing number of governments are putting in place disaster risk reduction legislation. While such legislation often does not provide targets for action, it does establish responsible agencies for risk reduction, typically in local and regional government. Where legal systems are robust, legislation has proven a strong weapon to strengthen communities at risk from technological and industrial hazards, and underpins the Environmental Justice Movement. Court action taken by the survivors of the Payatas (Manila) rubbish mountain landslide in 2000 is an example. Some 300 people were killed in this event. In partnership with civil rights lawyers, survivors filed a US$20 million legal claim against the city government for compensatory and moral damages based on the assertion that city authorities were responsible for the Payatas dumpsite. That low-income survivors of an urban disaster could take legal action indicates the strength of community capacity in Payatas, and also a supporting infrastructure of civil rights lawyers, basic conditions not found in every city and especially lacking in smaller urban settlements. 36 Where the law allows it, and where culpability can be proven, group actions brought by survivors of toxic releases against companies or the state can amount to significant sums and act as a deterrent on other companies. In South Africa, a strong legal system provides for disaster risk reduction to be a shared responsibility between national, regional and municipal governments and, in so doing, provides for collective legal action against state agencies found to be complicit in the generation of disaster risk (see Box 8.8). Box 8.7 Women lead contributions to local disaster risk reduction in Latin America The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) has long worked with women and men to build local capacities for risk awareness and reduction. In a review of the contribution made by women to local resilience, it was concluded that, while women are severely affected by natural disasters, disasters often provide women with an opportunity to challenge and change their status in society. In many (if not most) cases, women are more effective than men at mobilizing the community to respond to disasters. They form groups and networks of social actors who work to meet the most pressing needs of the community. This kind of community organizing has proven essential in disaster preparedness and mitigation. A review of PAHO field notes illustrates the contribution of women towards disaster risk reduction: • Following Hurricane Mitch in 1998, women in Guatemala and Honduras were seen building houses, digging wells and ditches, hauling water and building shelters. This shows how willing women are to take on activities traditionally considered to be ‘men’s work’. Beyond increasing the efficiency and equity in disaster reconstruction, this kind of experience can also help in changing society’s conceptions of women’s capabilities. • After the 1985 earthquake in Mexico City, low-income women working in factories organized themselves into the ‘19 of September Garment Workers’ Union’, which was recognized by the Mexican government and proved instrumental in lobbying for the recovery of women’s employment. • Following Hurricane Joan in 1988, women in Mulukutú (Nicaragua) organized to develop plans for disaster preparedness that included all the members of a household. Ten years later, Mulukutú was better prepared for Hurricane Mitch and it recovered more quickly than other similarly affected communities. Source: PAHO (undated) Economic approaches Microfinance has a great potential to build community resilience to disasters. The extension of small loans through micro-credit enhances the incomes and assets of urban households and communities, thereby reducing their poverty. In turn, this helps to reduce vulnerability to disasters and develops greater coping capacity. Post-disaster loans and micro-insurance can help poor urban households recover more quickly. Yet, it is only recently that microcredit and micro-insurance have been applied for building community resilience to disaster risk. To date, microfinance institutions have been involved mostly with post-disaster recovery activities. There is a need, however, for microfinance to be perceived as a potential tool to better prepare communities before natural hazards strike. In particular, the scope for micro-insurance to act as an affordable mechanism for extending risk-sharing into lowincome communities has recently received much attention. Challenges remain for the role of microfinance in strengthening local resilience against disasters. The complexity of livelihoods and social life in urban areas has delayed the development of microfinance schemes, compared to some rural contexts. Disasters can also destroy the very assets in which individuals have invested microcredit loans, leading to debt as well as loss of assets. Following a disaster, if micro-credit is available, there is a danger that survivors will overextend their ability to repay loans in efforts to re-establish livelihoods. Pre-disaster … an increasing number of governments are putting in place disaster risk reduction legislation
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ENHANCING URBAN SAFETY AND SECURITY
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INTRODUCTION Enhancing Urban Safety
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The preparation of
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x Enhancing Urban Safety and Securi
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46 Urban crime and violence Box II.
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5 CHAPTER SECURITY OF TENURE: CONDI
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116 Security of tenure Table 5.1 A
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120 Security of tenure Box 5.4 Secu
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122 Security of tenure Urban tenure
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126 Security of tenure Market-based
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128 Security of tenure Box 5.11 Urb
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330 Statistical annex Islands, Micr
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332 Statistical annex NOMENCLATURE
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334 Statistical annex Population, u
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336 Statistical annex SOURCES OF DA
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INDEX ACHR (Asian Coalition for Hou
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Index 435 security of tenure 134 co
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Index 437 domestic abuse see intima
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Index 441 Kosovo, security of tenur
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Index 443 participation 38, 296-299
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Index 445 individual 34-35 municipa
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Index 447 gun ownership 78 Homeless
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