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| ADB Headquarters in Manila [PHOTO: © Eugene Alvin Villar, 2007] |
The region has borne
the brunt of the physical and economic damage of the sharp rise in natural
disasters since the 1980s. Its people are four times more likely to be affected
by natural disaster than in Africa and 25 times more than in Europe or North America.
With 25% of the world’s gross domestic product, the region accounted for 38% of
the economic losses due to natural disasters during 1980–2009.
The study—ADB’s
Response to Natural Disasters and Disaster Risks—calls for projects and
programs to put a far greater emphasis on improving disaster prevention. Much
wider recognition is needed of the fact that natural disasters, particularly
storms and floods, are becoming endemic and that their increasing frequency and
severity can slash economic growth and development.
“We have thought for
too long that natural disasters come and go, that they are just an interruption
to development, and that they can be dealt with after they strike,” says the
Director General of Independent Evaluation, Vinod Thomas. “However, there is
growing international recognition that the incidence and impact of natural
disasters are increasing because of persistent poverty, population growth, and
climate change.”
In its review of
ADB’s disaster-related projects and programs, the study notes that disaster
prevention accounted for one-third of investment, compared with two-thirds
spent on disaster recovery. Yet, by some measures, one dollar invested today in
reducing disaster risk saves at least four dollars in future relief and rehabilitation
costs.
The independent
evaluation study finds that ADB’s disaster-recovery projects have been much
more successful than ADB-supported projects overall. But many of them had the
limited objective of restoring particular types of infrastructure, rather than
rehabilitating livelihoods, or increasing disaster resilience. So far, very few
countries have focused on the disaster risks in their economic development
plans. Member country governments and ADB must do more to highlight the need
for investment in disaster prevention, not just in infrastructure, but also in
relation to social development.
During 1995–2011, ADB
provided funding of $10.37 billion for 264 natural disaster interventions,
including 104 loans for $8.55 billion.
A special review of
ADB’s disaster response programs in Bangladesh, Indonesia, and Pakistan finds
several areas where ADB and the rest of the development community could improve
both disaster response and preparation.
In Bangladesh, for
example, ADB has been efficient at renovating damaged roads and bridges. But it
can support the proactive and successful disaster management programs the
government has implemented. These programs have dramatically lowered deaths in
this disaster-prone delta-region caused by regular, powerful cyclones. In a
storm in 1997, for example, 111 were killed in contrast with 300,000 people in
a similar storm in 1970.
In Indonesia—after
the earthquake off Sumatra and resulting tsunami in December 2004, killing more
than 200,000 around the Indian Ocean—the government gained valuable experience,
through effective delegation, in handling the huge numbers of donors that line
up to respond to such disasters. Greater support is now needed for
strengthening the institutions that emerged out of the response to the
disaster, including the National Agency for Disaster Management. This replaced
the Aceh-Nias Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Agency (known as BRR)—set up in
2005 and dissolved in 2009 as it completed its task—as the government’s central
coordinating body for disaster response and prevention.
Another lesson
learned in the earthquake-tsunami response is the hugely complex needs such
disasters create. “You cannot simply rehabilitate roads and bridges and then
build temporary shelter. Often, poverty, gender, ethnic issues, property rights
and other problems compound the difficulties and require much greater attention
and capacity for response from the development community,” says Tomoo Ueda,
Principal Evaluation Specialist and the main author.
In Pakistan, where
the country’s defense forces have gained respect for their disaster response,
there is significant need for greater support for civil disaster-management
institutions, such as the National Disaster Management Authority.
“Throughout the region,
we must recognize that investments in disaster risk management are an essential
means to sustaining growth and poverty reduction,” says Thomas.