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

carry out these guidelines. For the future, it isvital that the universities, academic institutionsand professionals assume the responsibility topromote the spread of this technical knowledgein order for these obstacles to be overcome.With the exception of Costa Rica and Ecuador,there are presently very few countries that canshow the execution of special projects to reducethe vulnerability of facilities against naturaldisasters. For instance, water purification facilitiesand related systems generally remainexposed to different types of hazards, eventhough many of these facilities supposedly havebeen upgraded to withstand their damagingeffects. Only water treatment facilities havebeen improved to some extent, as the publicavailability of clean drinking water has been atop priority for disaster management emphasisin the wake of disasters.Case: CanadaCanada’s new Office of Critical InfrastructureProtection and Emergency Preparedness(OCIPEP) was established to enhance the protectionof critical infrastructure from disruptionor destruction, and to act as the government’sprimary agency for ensuring nationalcivil emergency preparedness. This underlinedthe importance of critical infrastructure such asenergy and utilities, communications, services,cybernetic systems, transportation, safety andgovernment comprise as the backbone of thenation’s economy.Selected application of disaster reduction measuresThe engineering standards of buildings, lifelines,and housing are determined by thedegree to which technical decisions are made,and followed through in practice, by constructionprofessionals. It is they who must determinehow effective a particular engineeringsolution will be in respect to an expecteddegree of stress or hazard.However, much less attention is given to theequally important roles of investors, localpolitical authorities and community leaders tofulfil their own professional and civic responsibilities.Together they have important rolesto play in assuring expected compliance ofstandards implied by their investment,enforcement of legislation, or adherence tolocal procedures, regulations and standards.Even when assuming that codes have beenbased on current knowledge and developedexperience, they ultimately are only as good asthe extent to which they are employed andenforced. The state of Florida was regarded ashaving one of the most rigorous buildingcodes in the US until Hurricane Andrewstripped away all pretences of compliance.Similar disclosures have arisen with unerringfrequency after disasters have occurred,whether they happened in Japan, Turkey, Taiwanor India.“In Turkey, the building construction supervision scheme isdirected mostly to checking designs, when in fact violationsoccur at the construction site.”Gulkan, P.5Structural means, disaster-resistantconstructionThe design and construction of hazard-resistantstructures constitute some of the mostcost-effective means of reducing risks. Thetechnical design and authoritative enforcementof building codes and related standardsof construction are essential to protect the builtenvironment from unnecessary loss or damagefrom natural hazards. Urban planners, architects,engineers, construction contractors andbuilding inspectors all have important responsibilitiesto ensure that the physical aspects ofplanning and construction are technicallysound and are suited to the circumstances ofpotential hazards in a specific location.In an effort to address some of these issues, theEarthquake Engineering Research Institute(EERI), a non-profit professional associationheadquartered in Oakland, US, is conductinga joint project with the International Associationof Earthquake Engineering (IAEE) located inTokyo, Japan. Together they are building aninteractive, dynamic, Internet-based encyclopaediaof housing construction used in all seismically-activeareas of the world. The endeavourlinks more than 160 volunteer engineersand architects from over 45 countries,enabling them to consolidate and share data,as well as to access tools that can reduce thevulnerability of housing in earthquakes. Thegoal is to create a professional resource that is237