Bolder strategies needed to manage risk, UN says

Manila: Countries such as the Philippines which are more prone to disasters, should have bolder risk management strategies, a United Nations agency said.

The United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR), in a paper, titled Towards a Post-2015 Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, said exposure to disaster risk is increasing as time progresses. Considering this, countries prone to calamities should have bolder risk management strategies to offset the effects of these occurrences to their economies.

"Between 2002 and 2011, there were 4,130 disasters recorded, resulting from natural hazards around the world where 1,117,527 people perished and a minimum of $1,195 billion (Dh4,389 billion) was recorded in losses. In the year 2011 alone, 302 disasters claimed 29,782 lives; affected 206 million people and inflicted damages worth an estimated $366 billion," it said.

The UNISDR is an agency that coordinates international efforts in disaster risk reduction and guides, monitors as well as reports regularly on the progress of the implementation of the Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA).

The HFA is a ten-year plan adopted by 168 member states of the United Nations in 2005 to make the world safer from natural hazards.