NARRI: A national platform for disaster risk reduction Friday, June 17, 2011 M. Mizanur Rahman Although the Americas were gravely affected by natural disasters in 2010, especially in terms of fatalities, the number of disaster victims remained by far the highest in Asia. The initiative has been developed as a result of increasing recognition among member organisations that there was considerable additional programme impact that could be gained by working together more closely, resulting in better and more durable programme outcomes. According to Global Assessment report (2009), about 2 crore people of Bangladesh live with the risk of floods and, in the country ranking, it is in the most vulnerable situation among 162 countries. Between 1980 and 2008, Bangladesh faced 219 natural disasters, taking 191,343 lives -- averaging highest on the world mortality risk index at 6,598 people per year according to United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR). The consortium has adopted a five year action plan.
Cocoa Campaign | International Labor Rights Forum Cocoa trees are grown on small, independent farms of fewer than 5 hectares. Small farm sizes in the cocoa industry mean that production is heavily decentralized among hundreds of thousands of farmers. It is estimated that there are over 4.5 million small scale cocoa producers worldwide. These producers are scattered about the globe, but are generally located within 20 degrees of the equator, where the climate is most suitable for the crop. Altogether, producers across the globe supply 4 million tons of cocoa beans annually, and Ghana and Cote D’Ivoire now produce 70% of the world’s cocoa supply. Unfortunately, the cocoa sector in this region is also afflicted with a severe child labor problem. Children who work on cocoa plantations are unavoidably exposed to certain hazards, including dangerous tools, dust, flames or smoke, hazardous chemicals, and/or physically demanding labor such as carrying heavy loads or spending many hours in the sun.
Climate Change Report: Natural Disasters In The Future Require Planning Now * Rising population, development put more in harm's way * Policymakers urged to act in next few decades * Less emphasis on mitigation, more on cutting risk By David Fogarty and Deborah Zabarenko A future on Earth of more extreme weather and rising seas will require better planning for natural disasters to save lives and limit deepening economic losses, the United Nations said on Wednesday in a major report on the effects of climate change. The U.N. climate panel said all nations will be vulnerable to the expected increase in heat waves, more intense rains and floods and a probable rise in the intensity of droughts. Aimed largely at policymakers, the report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change makes clear nations need to act now, because increasingly extreme weather is already a trend. The need for action has become more acute as a growing human population puts more people and more assets in the path of disaster, raising economic risk, the report said.
UNISDR Haiti Earthquake Appeal Evaluations | Disasters Emergency Committee Protection and Accountability Study This report [1mb .pdf] assesses the protection work of member agencies and how they dealt with accountability issues during the earthquake response. It was produced by lead authors Eric James and Julie R. Dargis who are independent consultants and was based on research carried out in and around Port au Prince in Haiti in January 2013. The study reached five main conclusions: The report highlight examples of what it regarded as good practice such as: Urban Disasters: Lessons from Haiti This report [3.5mb .pdf] was commissioned to examine the risk of other large urban disasters over the next decade and to guide preparation for future responses. The report seeks to highlight the lessons learned from good practice and errors made in the response to the Earthquake in Haiti, which took place in the context of widespread poverty and high population density. This video summary presents the ten key lessons from the response in Haiti: