The 2009 World Disasters Report, Focus on Early Warning, Early Action delivers a strong "prevention is better than cure" case for donors to invest now to curb the disastrous and heartbreaking consequences of disasters.
Download the Report: World Disasters Report 2009 (PDF 3.7MB)
Early Warning, Early Action - Going the "Last Mile"
Introduction: Early warning, early action - an essential partnership to prevent disasters.
World Disasters Report 2009 (WDR) focuses on "early warning, early action" - both key aspects of disaster risk reduction. The decline in human and material losses from disasters over the past 30 years is partly due to improved early-warning systems, many of them "high-tech". Scientific advances have revolutionized forecasting and the communications technology used for warnings. But WDR argues that a more people-centred approach is essential to ensure information and warnings captured by satellites, computer modelling and other technologies reach the most vulnerable communities, which can then act on them. Early-warning systems alone do not prevent hazards turning into disasters. Early action, covering all timescales, is also essential. It is an investment for the future, and far more effective in the long run than responding to an emergency. But this seems to be a lesson that donors, governments and humanitarians have yet to learn.
Education is a key theme in the 2009 World Disasters Report focused on Early Warning, Early Action because it illustrates many examples which prove that education on global warming and natural disasters really is the difference between life and death for many people.
As an example, the report tells the story of Tilly Smith, an 11-year-old school girl from the South of England, who was on holiday with her family in Phuket, Thailand when the Tsunami hit in 2004. Tilly had only learned about Tsunamis in a recent Geography lesson when the class had been told that a "sizzling" froth on the surface of the water was the warning signal of an imminent Tsunami. With this information Tilly alerted a nearby lifeguard and the beach was cleared in time before the disaster struck.
Tilly credits her life and the life of her family to her Geography teacher Mr. Andrew Kearney, "If it wasn’t for Mr. Kearney I’d probably be dead and so would my family. So I’m quite proud that he taught me that at the time he did."
Humanitarian relief such as that provided for people affected by the Tsunami is not only about the immediate consequences of the disaster but must also consider the future, "[Children] are especially vulnerable to the longer-term effects of disasters, such as intensified poverty, hunger and disease." (WDR09)
Head Operations Support Department, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies
After 4 years in the commercial sector Peter Rees-Gildea worked with Non-Governmental Organisations from 1979 to 1990 before he joined the International Federation.