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From Poverty to Power Green, Oxfam 2008 - weman

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4 RISK AND VULNERABILITY NATURAL DISASTERwith local organisations. National governments were mistakenlywritten off as ‘failed states’ and ignored. Aid was often supplydriven,rather than in response <strong>to</strong> the expressed needs of theaffected communities. Because aid was often distributed <strong>to</strong>those who were more articulate or powerful, such as fishermenwanting replacement boats, rather than marginalised womenand poor communities, it ended up reinforcing inequalities insociety.More broadly, the evaluation highlighted the irrationality of amedia-driven global system that raised over $7,000 per personaffected by the tsunami, but only $3 per person affected by thatyear’s floods in Bangladesh.It concluded by driving home the human security message ofempowerment plus protection, arguing that, for all the successesof the response, ‘A regula<strong>to</strong>ry system is needed <strong>to</strong> oblige agencies<strong>to</strong> put the affected population at the centre of measures ofagency effectiveness’, and called for ‘a fundamental reorientationfrom supplying aid <strong>to</strong> supporting and facilitating communities’own relief and recovery priorities.’Source: J. Telford, J. Cosgrave, and R. Hough<strong>to</strong>n (2006) ‘Joint Evaluation of theInternational Response <strong>to</strong> the Indian Ocean Tsunami: Synthesis Report’, London: TsunamiEvaluation Coalition.REDUCING RISKPreviously we just reacted. We’d work <strong>to</strong>gether, but now we plan beforethe flood happens. It’s meant that, for example, we didn’t have <strong>to</strong> leavethis place this year. Before the flood came every family had dried foodand a portable oven s<strong>to</strong>red. Cattle were moved and placed in a safeplace. When we saw that the tube well was going under water we started<strong>to</strong> s<strong>to</strong>re water in pots. We don’t have <strong>to</strong> wait for outside help.HAWA PARVIN, VILLAGE DISASTER PREPAREDNESS COMMITTEE,KURIGRAM DISTRICT, BANGLADESH, 2004 87With disasters, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.Mozambique’s response <strong>to</strong> a potentially lethal combination of floodsand a cyclone in 2007 showed what good national leadership andplanning can achieve, even in one of the world’s poorest countries.249

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