Living with Risk. A global review of disaster reduction initiatives

Policy and public commitment: the foundation of disaster risk reduction
3
Challenges for regional interaction in Asia
The following issues have been cited by Asian practitioners as contributing to either sporadic or inconsistent
attention being accorded to disaster risk reduction in international exchanges or regionally-based
endeavours:
Tunnel vision that relegates risk awareness to marginal consideration in contrast to predominant
political visibility in responding to disasters that have occurred.
Different constituencies and mandates pertaining to various sectors of disaster risk management.
Scarcity of resource allocations for risk reduction, in contrast to emergency response.
Weak or inconsistent reliance on dynamic risk assessments in national development strategies.
No single umbrella organization representative of regional interests and priorities related to disaster
risks.
Lack of awareness, policy or economic motivation to include disaster risk impact analysis in project
design.
Different, over-lapping or over-looked, geographical coverage of countries’ or donor’s interests and
project distribution.
Lack of programmatic mechanisms for matching regional providers with local needs – decisions
often influenced more by political affinities than potential disaster risks.
Nationalist motivations, or competing initiatives and duplication among donor interests.
Bilateral versus multilateral initiatives, donor, or supply-side influenced projects.
National policy objectives contrasting with broader regional collaboration.
Insufficient working-level cooperation and knowledge transfer, duplication of information collection
and dissemination.
Limited opportunities for dialogue on a regional level. Lack of structured communication and
knowledge of other agencies’ programmes.
the benefit of a wider audience. The following
table gives an indication of criteria being
considered as suitable measures to gauge
accomplishment in selected areas of responsibility
across the region.
From the AUDMP expereince, the following
conditions highlight current constraints which
remain to be addressed:
• Lack of interest and willingness of governments
and organizations to take
responsibility.
• Other political preoccupations or institutional
impediments.
• Scarcity or non-allocation of funds and
human resources.
• Lack of awareness of roles of other agencies.
• Lack of recognized mechanisms for information
sharing and coordination.
• Lack of consistent donor policies or limited
donor collaboration.
• Cooperation not sufficiently institutionalised
within countries, so that if a key
individual leaves, cooperation and collaboration
may lapse.
• Different, overlapping concepts of subregions,
or even definitions of the Asian
region.
The extent of cultural variation and political
diversity across Asia works against regional
cooperation. However, at least some of these
limitations could be overcome, or measures
taken to resolve them if the international donor
community and regional organizations alike
could work towards a more consistent and
focussed approach to accord disaster risk
reduction a more distinctive and visible role in
development strategies.
Pacific small island developing states
Pacific small island developing states and territoties
quite diverse in their physical and economic
characteristics and exemplify many different
cultures, languages and traditional practices.
Most of these island countries comprise
tiny areas of land widely dispersed throughout
the Pacific Ocean, so that even within single
countries, the distance between islands can be
enormous.
131