A global review of disaster reduction initiatives - Welcome to the ...

4Living with Risk: A global review of disaster reduction initiatives168Selected national information programmesTo varying degrees and with different intentions,individual countries have establishedtheir own distinctive approaches to institutionalizinginformation functions for disasterreduction. While recognizing that the informationneeds of countries vary and there are reasonsfor different emphases, there is nonethelessa growing recognition of the need to combinedifferent types of information that couldbe collected or maintained historically withinvarious departments or agencies. The examplesthat follow demonstrate some of the challengesthat countries have faced in gaining a clearunderstanding of their respective risk issuesand how four different countries are proceedingto update and consolidate the body of theirinformation for improved disaster risk reduction.In all of the cases cited, improved hazardand disaster risk information was an essentialprecursor to the further development of strategicnational disaster risk management programmes.Recognizing the similarities between these factors and thoserevealed by the LA RED DESINVENTAR database in LatinAmerica, the MANDISA disaster event database was conceivedwith the following considerations in mind:• Disaster incidents can occur at different scales, ranging fromhousehold to provincial and national levels;• Disaster risk is driven by the interaction between triggeringhazard factors and underlying conditions of social, economic,environmental and infrastructural vulnerability;• Disaster impacts can occur in different socio-economic sectorsor subject contexts, and therefore may be recorded in awide range of formats or institutional locations;• Disaster risk can be reduced by minimizing vulnerabilityideallythrough ongoing, practical initiatives that achievemultiple development objectives; and most fundamentally,• Public access to information about local patterns of disasterrisk is empowering and facilitates community participationin decision-making, thus strengthening opportunities forresponsive governance.South AfricaIn South Africa, the University of Cape Town'sDisaster Mitigation for Sustainable LivelihoodsProgramme (DiMP) has developed adisaster information management system forthe Monitoring, Mapping and Analysis ofDisaster Incidents in South Africa (MAN-DISA). The objective of the project, cofinancedby OFDA/USAID and DFID/UK,is to create a system that can document hazards,vulnerabilities and trends related to localizedsmall to medium-scale disaster incidentsand to organize that information for betterdecision-making. Despite an earlier fragmentedto non-existent information base causinglocalized events to be frequently overlooked,these smaller events are now considered to havedisproportionate impacts on already marginalizedcommunities. Moreover, as informationabout these disaster events is stored in differentgovernment services, it has been nearly impossibleto create a consolidated profile on municipaldisaster occurrence and losses-either bytype, location, consequences or over time.During 1999/2000 a team of researchers identifiedmore than a dozen sources concerningdisaster losses in Cape Town alone, containingmore than 10,000 records of disasters. Thiswas in glaring contrast to only 20-30 disastersthat had been officially declared during thesame period. One of the telling observations ofthe research was that, with the exception of twoelectronic sources, all other information wasconfined to paperbound materials. Such widelydistributed and often-incompatible sourcesof information highlight the challenges of creatingeffective, synthesized disaster informationsystems. This has made integrated disasterreduction planning virtually impossible.The information organized by the project is nowmaintained in a database and linked to a GISsystem, visible on a publicly accessible web site.Since the end of 2001 www.MANDISA.org.zahas been consolidating data on disaster eventsthat occurred in Cape Town between 1990 and1999 and has been displaying them with relatedinformation in tables, maps, graphs and photos.Users can interrogate the database online andgenerate additional information about trendsand patterns of disaster risk. It is anticipated thatthis will enable municipal planners and residentsalike to consider disaster risks more strategically,just as crime, public health, traffic incidentsand other forms of risk are considered to beimportant developmental priorities underlyingbroader aspects of basic human security.Improved access to additional information has