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This interactive tool is a prototype and will remain under development until May 2008. As the DRVAT concept is fully developed, user comments and feedback are welcomed and appreciated.
As stated in the Hyogo Framework, disaster risk reduction is among several important internationally adopted objectives that promote disaster resilience1 among nations and communities. The purpose of DRVAT is to reinforce efforts to accomplish these objectives through the dissemination of global indicators and data sets that inform and influence disaster risk management initiatives. DRVAT offers an environment where users may visualize hazard occurrences and compare country-level social and economic data related to human security. These comparisons can potentially facilitate planning and preparedness processes and assists in the development of risk management priorities.
DRVAT utilizes the power of disaster-related information sharing based on the proven foundation of Pacific Disaster Center's (PDC) Asia Pacific Natural Hazards and Vulnerabilities Atlas (Atlas), and is the next evolutionary step in Atlas development, foreseen by its authors at its inception and realized through the combined experience and professional competence of PDC and the Asia Pacific Center for Security Studies (APCSS). "Ultimately, the toll of any disaster will depend on the affected community's resilience and its capacity to recover. A community's inherent vulnerability is a complex function of a wide range of cultural, social, economic, and political factors that can change as the result of interventions to enhance resilience. Enhancing adaptive capacity is key to the developing of disaster resilient communities. Future versions of the Atlas will introduce measures of these important parameters.... In the end however, the goal is not to build atlases that record disasters, but rather to reduce the loss of lives from these terrible events." (Chiesa, 2003). DRVAT is a product of a collaborative effort initiated by the Asia Pacific Collaborative Security Consortium (APCSC), undertaken with PDC.
The goal of disaster risk reduction is to reduce the economic losses and loss of life associated with disasters. It is increasingly recognized that world wide, disasters and their associated costs are rising (Not if but when: Adapting to natural hazards in the Pacific Islands Regions, Executive Summary, The World Bank, 2006). The Center for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED) reports a doubling of disasters and their costs between 1997 and 2007, and notes that costs continue to climb (CRED, Annual Disaster Statistical Review, 2006). Direct economic damage due to disasters, let alone the losses of life and security, is considerable and rising—for the last 25 years estimates are over $1 trillion (Stromberg, Journal of Economic Perspectives, 2007). Between 1985 and 1999, the world's poorest countries' losses represented 13.4 percent of their combined GDP (Being Prepared, Freeman, Keen, and Mani, 2003).
The Asia Pacific region is prone to many hazard events due to its hydrology and geophysical characteristics, and consequently bears a disproportionate share of the globe's disasters. Seven of the ten most populated cities in the world are in this region, as well as many littoral and archipelagic nations, all of which occupy high risk zones. Due to the combination of physical risk and the pattern of human development, the Asia Pacific region also suffers a disproportionate share of the hazard-related financial and human losses. The International Federation of the Red Cross (IFRC) reports over 40% of the world's disasters and 80% of the fatalities occur in this region (IFRC Annual Report, 2005).
In addition to project-based and process-oriented mitigation activities, information sharing and cross-sector understanding are key to building preparedness and promoting resilience. DRVAT provides global information resources that can be utilized in planning, preparedness and mitigation.
A comprehensive evaluation of risk additionally takes into account a society's ability to effectively respond to the adverse effects of hazard events, which may include the use of collective community resources, and aspects of resilience, such as coping mechanisms or adaptive strategies learned through experience. Collectively, these may be used as measures of capacity. (ISDR Terminology.)
Characteristically, capacity modifies vulnerability, and is typically integrated into the vulnerability component, as represented by the risk equation used by the UN Development Programme (UNDP):
DRVAT seeks to call out and visualize individual or collective data sets representative of factors contributing to vulnerability and capacity in order to pinpoint remedial activities. Risk, then, is represented in DRVAT as follows:
As depicted in the graphic below, each component of risk can be further resolved into additional elements ultimately represented by individual data sets or composite surrogate indicators. A hazard, for example, can be effectively described by its intensity, frequency, and speed of onset. Vulnerability can be described by exposure (who and what may be in harm's way), and fragility (the quality of that which is exposed which is contributing to or magnifying the harmful effects of a hazard). Capacity incorporates both awareness (access to warning information, social connectedness, and the ability to interpret information and take action), and resilience (the ability to adapt and change in order to reach and maintain an acceptable level of functioning and structure).
To this foundation, other selected data sources have been added that can be used to represent factors of vulnerability and capacity. Because these components of risk are complex and difficult to assess, the additional data sets presented here were selected as reasonable surrogate indicators—rather than measures—of vulnerability and capacity and of the elements composing them. It is hoped that ongoing research and feedback from the international community will further refine these choices.
Many of these indicators are existing global indices composed at a national scale, described and referenced in the metadata associated with each layer. Several are discussed briefly here:
The Human Development Index (HDI), measures human well-being based on three indicators: life expectancy, educational attainment, and income. In the DRVAT framework, the Human Development Index is used to represent a country's resilience, and in combination with awareness, the capacity of a country. Countries with a high HDI are considered to be more resilient in the event of a disaster; conversely, countries with a low HDI are considered less able to prepare, respond, cope and recover from a hazard event.
As a measure of fragility, records of the presence of active conflict were acquired from the Uppsala Conflict Data Project (UCDP). UCDP defines conflict as an armed conflict that resulted in at least 25 battle deaths in a calendar year (2006). In an area that is already experiencing discourse among its residents, active conflict would interfere with preparedness activities and exacerbate natural hazard effects during response and recovery.
Improved risk assessments contribute to better risk management decisions by regional, national, and local leaders in their efforts to reduce risk, mitigate hazards, build capacity and prepare for shocks.
Risk reduction is supported by improved situational awareness, strong information-sharing networks, effective warning systems and engaged communities. DRVAT will foster these capabilities by providing an accessible resource for global information as it applies to the hazards paradigm.
As development continues, it is envisioned that DRVAT will provide data sets at a sub-national scale, offering a greater level of detail and more specificity with regard to identifying populations at risk and targeting risk reduction measures. In a recent publication, the National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences reported that "improvements in the collection of and access to sub-national data are vital to decisions on humanitarian intervention, disaster relief, and development assistance.” Furthermore, it reported that “the quality and level of population data (including demographic and other socioeconomic characteristics) will have a direct effect on the quality of the response and the number of lives saved" during a disaster.
Other planned enhancements to DRVAT will include the visualization of changes or trends in data sets and indicators; as well as the capacity to view multiple data sets at the same time. Currently, only one data set may be viewed at a time, however, it is envisioned that future versions of DRVAT will portray composite indicators, where appropriate, for each component of risk.