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

lic information must necessarily include professionaland civic groups and both nationaland local authorities. The media too fulfils therole of informing the public in increasinglyinformation-driven societies. There is a widespreadrecognition that practical tools andguidelines to carry out such programs remaininadequate in part because of the limitedexchange of information about what is beingaccomplished globally in the field.Individual commemorative occasions or oneoff public displays that are not associated withdaily livelihoods and social responsibilities ofthe public are unlikely to have much enduringeffect. They only go so far in arousing publicinterest or motivating widespread popular participation,so more strategic approaches need tobe conceived and supported. By contrast, evenif extreme events may be considered extraordinaryin themselves, they have a great potentialfor dramatically illustrating hazardous conditionselsewhere. In this respect, the prevalenceof risks that display severe consequences nearbyor in similar social settings can provide apowerful impetus for sustained public interest.The timely and widespread circulation of lessonslearned from disasters and the followthrough necessary to apply the practical proceduresthat can reduce risks, can contribute toothers prior to similar losses being sufferedelsewhere.Building understanding: development of knowledge and information sharingDisasters increase public awarenessExperiences demonstrate opportunities tomount programs of public awareness and educationwith practical results following major disasters.The impact of the El Niño event in 1997-98,hurricanes Georges and Mitch (1998), followedby the losses from the earthquakes in El Salvador(2001), had such an enormous impact onpublic understanding that they far exceededwhat any planned publicity program could haveever accomplished in Central America.Before, routine public information disseminatedby disaster management authorities typicallyfocused on emergency preparedness and crisisresponse issues. Since these events, the complexissues of risk have become associated with problemsof poverty, social exclusion, lack of accessto resources and untenable use of land.There is now the recognition that values associatedwith risk reduction must be conveyedthrough wider public exposure and achieved bymaking permanent changes in educational curricula.The successful efforts to teach environmentalconsciousness throughout the formalbasic education system in Costa Rica showswhat can be accomplished with a coherent andsustained strategy.4Having witnessed the damage to public infrastructurein California during the Loma Prietaearthquake in 1989, the authorities in Seattle,Washington used the occasion to create a widerpublic understanding and support for fixingtheir own roads, bridges and other publicworks early in the 1990s. Work continuedthroughout the decade at a cost of more than$150 million. When a magnitude 6.0 earthquakeshook Seattle in 2001, the Mayor ofSeattle observed that the sustained publicawareness and support for their program to reenforcepublic infrastructure was money wellspent. There was only one fatality and the primarycity infrastructure largely survived withonly moderate damage.Public discussion and official assessment of theconsequences of major earthquakes in India inrecent years have resulted in political demandsthat have totally revised outdated state-wideprograms of hazard awareness and disaster riskmanagement. The unprecedented floods experiencedin several Southern African countriesin 2000 resulted in public demands and politicalexpectations for a wider regional discussionof the risks associated with recurrent naturalhazards. Each of these occasions has resultedin the circulation of more public informationwith a resulting widespread public expectationof improved early warning procedures both toinform the population and to guide moreappropriate disaster management policies.The challenge that remains after an immediatecrisis is to maintain public interest and increaseinvolvement in public awareness programs. Itis during these periods of less immediate threatthat the important work in public awarenessneeds to be accomplished if greater future lossesare to be minimised or avoided. The aim ofpublic awareness programs should not be limitedto conveying an understanding about hazardsand risks to the public but rather it should189