Download the file - United Nations Rule of Law

190Natural and human-made disastersTable 7.9Disaster incidence andimpacts in Africa(1996–2005)Note: For all disaster types,small events with less than 10mortalities or 100 affectedpeople are not included.Source: EM-DAT, CREDdatabase, University ofLouvain, Belgium, www.emdat.netNumber of events Mortality People affected (thousands) Economic loss (US$million, 2005 value)Avalanches/landslides 11 251 3 No dataDrought/famines 140 4656 173,979 334Earthquakes/tsunamis 20 3313 361 5824Extreme temperatures 7 168 0 1Floods 290 8183 23,203 1880Volcanic eruptions 5 201 397 10Windstorms 74 1535 3902 1082Industrial accidents 49 2785 10 838Miscellaneous accidents 94 2847 189 23Neo-liberal policies… have scaled downstate responsibilitiesfor risk reductionand response…compared to other world regions, but is high as a proportionof GDP.Between 1996 and 2005, more people were killed oraffected by volcanic eruptions in Africa than in any otherregion, despite incidence (five events) being low (see Table7.9). Low incidence in Africa is explained by the long returnperiods for volcanic eruptions, unlike in other world regionsthat are more exposed to volcanic risk. The high loss-to-eventratio indicates low resilience and this was demonstrated inthe volcanic eruption of Mount Nyiragongo, which destroyed40 per cent of buildings and displaced 250,000 persons inGoma (Democratic Republic of Congo) in 2002. 102African rates of urbanization are the most rapid in theworld, albeit from a low base. The poverty of countries inthis region severely limits household coping capacity and thecapacity of governments to build resilience and undertakerisk reduction. There is a growing and, in some cities, strongcivil society presence that provides coordination for grassrootsactions. The lack of regional governance for riskreduction is a serious limiting factor preventingSouth–South learning across the region. Limited capacity toregulate industry also means urban settlements in thisregion have among the highest rates of industrial disasterworldwide. Widespread poverty and vulnerability make thisregion highly susceptible to the local impacts of globalenvironmental change. Vulnerability is exacerbated byconflict, chronic disease and weak governance.North African countries have higher levels of urbanizationand development than sub-Saharan Africa. Povertyand inequality remain high; but government risk reductioncapacity is stronger than in sub-Saharan Africa, although insome states limited civil society presence constrains thebuilding of resilience outside of state-sanctioned activities.In this sub-region, risk management is led by technologicaland engineering sectors. For example, great advances havebeen made in mapping urban earthquake risk and designingearthquake-proof structures. A lack of focus on governanceand social development has created challenges for implementingand enforcing codes.AmericasAcross all regions, the Americas experience the greatesteconomic loss from natural disasters (see Table 7.10). In2005, Hurricane Katrina alone caused US$81.2 billion ineconomic damage in the US (see Table 7.3). Windstorms(including hurricanes and tornadoes) are the most frequenttype of disaster, affect the greatest number of people andcause the highest total economic costs. In turn, windstormscan trigger flooding and landslides. Indeed, flooding is a highincidence event that causes the greatest number of deathsfor any disaster type in the region and also records a highmortality count. In 1998, Hurricane Mitch devastatedHonduras and Nicaragua, killing over 9000 people, many ofwhom lost their lives to landslides. 103 The impacts ofvolcanic eruptions have been limited despite the regionexperiencing 46 per cent of the global recorded events from1996 to 2005. This suggests good levels of resilience to thishazard type.North America is a wealthy and highly urbanizedregion. Canada and the US have strong states and active civilsocieties providing top-down and bottom-up risk reductioncapacity. Mexico is a large economy with a strong state andactive civil society, but is weakened by extensive poverty andtensions in governance, particularly related to indigenousand marginal urban and rural populations. Neo-liberalpolicies, particularly in the US and more recently in Mexico,have scaled down state responsibilities for risk reduction andresponse and placed greater emphasis on the role of privatecitizens and companies. This has had mixed results for urbanTable 7.10Disaster incidence andimpacts in theAmericas (1996–2005)Note: For all disaster types,small events with less than 10mortalities or 100 affectedpeople are not included.Source: EM-DAT, CREDdatabase, University ofLouvain, Belgium, www.emdat.netNumber of events Mortality People affected (thousands) Economic loss (US$million, 2005 value)Avalanches/landslides 42 1632 203 97Drought/famines 51 54 15,287 4094Earthquakes/tsunamis 45 2861 3757 7689Extreme temperatures 33 1597 4037 5620Floods 281 38,028 9525 27,903Volcanic eruptions 23 54 283 22Windstorms 321 28,110 25,278 234,680Industrial accidents 39 277 576 1245Miscellaneous accidents 70 2989 12 1609