Human Rights and Natural Disasters - Ruhr-Universität Bochum

Bangladesh 

Mozambique 

India 

Somalia 

Dominican Republic 

Human Rights and Natural Disasters 

Human development and vulnerability 

in floods’ geography 

Isabel M. R. PAIVA 

Centre of Geographical Studies 

University of Coimbra, Portugal 

isabelrp@ci.uc.pt

Discussion and goals 

Universal Declaration of Human Rights 

Article 1 

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. (…) 

Article 3 

Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person. 

But the reality shows that: 

The poor are the most severely affected by all natural disasters 

And the numbers tells us that: 

From 1975 to 2000, people who belong to the low-income 

category accounted for about 50% of those killed in floods. 

(UN/International Strategy for Disaster Reduction)

Discussion and goals 

. Call for attention for a human rights problem related to human 

development, vulnerability and impact of natural disasters; 

. Show the reality about natural disasters around the world, 

including floods, and its relationship with human development 

degree; 

. Emphasize how poorest communities are the most vulnerable 

to natural disaster, particularly to negative impacts of floods; 

. Show how poverty and vulnerability are a terrible vicious 

cycle in the natural disasters context.

Terminology 

Natural Disaster 

A serious disruption, caused by natural phenomena, of the 

functioning of a community or a society causing widespread 

human, material, economic or environmental losses which 

exceed the ability of the affected community or society to cope 

using its own resources. 

EM-DAT: The OFDA/CRED International Disaster Database 

consideres: 

for a disaster to be entered in their database at least one of 

the following criteria has to be fulfilled: 

�10 or more people reported killed 

�100 people reported affected 

�a call for international assistance 

�declaration of a state of emergency

Vulnerability 

. The human condition or process resulting from physical, 

social, economic and environmental factors, which determine 

the likelihood and scale of damage from the impact of a given 

hazard. (UN/Development Program) 

. The conditions determined by physical, social, economic, 

and environmental factors or processes, which increase the 

susceptibility of a community to the impact of hazards. 

(UN/International Strategy for Disaster Reduction) 

Resilience 

The capacity of a system, community or society 

potentially exposed to hazards to adapt, by resisting or 

changing in order to reach and maintain an acceptable 

level of functioning and structure. 

This is determined by the degree to which the social system is 

capable of organizing itself to increase its capacity for learning 

from past disasters for better future protection and to improve 

risk reduction measures. 

(UN/International Strategy for Disaster Reduction)

Floods in natural disasters context 

Evolution of hidrometeorological World distribution disasters by (1970 type (1991-2005) – 2005) 

Flood 

Wind Storm 

Biological disasters 

Earthquake and Tsunami 

Drought 

Slide 

Extreme temperature 

Wild Fire 

Volcano 

2 % 

5 % 

4 % 

4 % 

6 % 

8 % 

Floods are the hidrometeorological disaster with 

largest growth in last 35 years 

14 % 

25 % 

33 % 

Source: 

EM-DAT: The OFDA/CRED 

International Disaster 

Database, UCL, Brussels, 

Belgium 

Floods are the natural disaster with major 

incidences worldwide 

Source: UN/ISDR

Floods are among the most common and most devastating 

natural disasters. 

(WMO - World Meteorological Organization) 

Floods have the greatest damage potential of all natural 

disasters worldwide and affect the greatest number of people. 

(UN – Guidelines for Reducing Flood Losses) 

Flooding causes over one-third of the total estimated costs 

and is responsible for two thirds of people affected by 

natural disasters. 


From 1992 to 2001 a reported 1.2 billion people were affected 

and 96 500 killed by flooding. 

(International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, 2002)

Natural disasters, human development and vulnerability 

During the 1990s, 96 per cent and 99 per cent respectively of 

the annual average number of persons killed or affected by 

hazards resided outside of the US/Canada and Europe. 

(G. Bankoff, Mapping vulnerability, 2004, p.29) 

More than 95% of all deaths as a result of natural disasters are 

in the least developed countries, and these same nations have 

the greatest number of people affected by natural disasters. 


From 1992-2001, countries of low human development (LHD) 

have accounted for just one-fifth of the total number of 

disasters, but over half of all disaster fatalities. On average 13 

times more people die per reported disaster in LHD countries 

than in countries of high human development (HHD). 

(International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, 

World Disasters Report, 2002)

Natural disasters, human development and vulnerability 

Natural disasters and inequalities of development 

Disaster losses, total and as share of 

GDP, in the richest and poorest nations 

1985-1999 

Top 10 disasters costs as a proportion 

Hurricane Andrew (USA), one 

of GDP (1974 – 2003) 

of the most expensive disaster 

represented only about 0.3% of 

Annual average victims/100 000 population 

the 

1974-2003 

GDP of USA. 

Richest Poorest 

Source: UN/ISDR 

Source: Adapted from EM-DAT: The OFDA/CRED International Disaster 

Database, UCL, Brussels, Belgium 

Recurrent floods in Bangladesh 

represent an annual loss of 5% 

of the country's GDP. 

Source: Adapted from EM-DAT: The OFDA/CRED International Disaster Database, 

UCL, Brussels, Belgium

Floods, human development and vulnerability 

Floods and inequalities of development 

Top 10 most expensive flood disasters (1974 – 2003) 

Top 10 flood disaster costs as a proportion 

of GDP (1974 – 2003) 

Source: Adapted from EM-DAT: The OFDA/CRED International Disaster Database, 

UCL, Brussels, Belgium 

Source: Adapted from EM-DAT: The OFDA/CRED International Disaster Database, UCL, Brussels, Belgium 

The looses caused by floods in Bolívia in 1982 were evaluated in 

19,8% of GDP (gross domestic product). – World Meteorological Organization 

In Honduras, Hurricane Mitch put the country’s economic development 

back 20 years. (International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies)


Floods and inequalities of development 

The poor are the most severely affected by all 

natural disasters, including floods. 

Low income 

Low er middle 

income 

Upper middle 

income 

High income 

People killed in floods by income class (1975-2001) 

1 % 

23 % 

26 % 

Source: 

Adapted from UN/ISDR 

50 %


Why are the poorest communities the most vulnerable to floods ? 

Connecting vulnerability and low human development 

Physical factors 

. Human pressure on building in high risk areas (floodplains) 

. Low resistance houses 

. Environmental degradation (deforestation, soil degradation 

and erosion, availability of water, etc) 

. Low mobility of populations 

. Lack of disaster preparedness measures 

. Lack or deficiency of early warning and forecasting systems 

www.praticalaction.org www.news.bbc.co.uk


Why are the poorest communities the most vulnerable to floods ? 


Socio-economic factors 

. Poverty and high population density 

. Lack of scholar formation and information 

. Marginality and social segregation 

. Heavy dependence on agriculture, one of the most affected 

activity by floods 

. Lack or fragility of support from governments to provide 

resources to vulnerable communities 

. Lack of social security and insurance 

. Lack of resilience 

http://news.bbc.co.uk


Connecting vulnerability and low human development. 

A spatial perspective


Connecting vulnerability and low human development. 

A spatial perspective


Over the last 30 years: 

. 88% of the total people reported killed 

. 96% of the people reported affected 

In the last 15 years: 

lived in Africa and Asia. 

. 99% of total people affected by floods 

. 96% of total people killed by floods 

lived in developing and least developed countries.



Poverty affects people's capacity to protect themselves and 

their assets, as well as their ability to live in areas having 

less exposure to risk. 

The vulnerability of societies to natural disasters is clearly 

linked to poverty and weak planning. Dramatic urban growth, 

with the development of increasingly fragile infrastructure, is 

one factor that places the poor at higher risk from natural 

disasters. 

(UN -General Assembly/Economic and Social Council) 

From this point of view, vulnerability signifies a 

lack or a deficiency of development.



Disaster vulnerability and poverty are mutually reinforcing. 

Lack of 

resilience 

Poverty 

Heavy 

social and 

economic 

impacts 

Increase 

vulnerability 

It's a terrible vicious cycle 

High exposure of 

persons and their 

settlements 

Natural disaster 

occurrence

Final remarks 

. Poverty is a keyword for analysis on the natural disasters 

impacts because of the increasing of population vulnerability. 

.When a disaster strikes, it destroys not only existing wealth, 

but also income opportunities and livelihoods, thereby further 

increasing the vulnerability of the already poor population. 

. The floods effects are particularly destructive because they 

do not kill outright, but eliminate the ability for already 

marginal populations to improve or even continue their lives. 

. The necessity to integrate the risk and vulnerability reduction 

into policies, plans and programmes for sustainable 

development. 

. The urge to implement prevention and protect systems against 

natural hidrometeorological phenomena, including floods, in the 

poorest livelihoods, in the context of rising of weather extreme 

events.

Do you remember? 

www.praticalaction.org Diário de Coimbra, Portugal 

Article 1 

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. (…) 

Article 3 

www.frenchentree.com 

http://news.bbc.co.uk 

Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person. 

www.praticalaction.org 



www.tribuneindia.com

Thank you !

Human Rights and Natural Disasters - Ruhr-Universität Bochum

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