Lessons for a safer future: drawing on the experience of the Indian Ocean tsunami disaster. Eleven key actions for building nations’ and communities’ resilience to disaster

Lessons for a safer future: drawing on the experience of the Indian Ocean tsunami disaster. Eleven key actions for building nations’ and communities’ resilience to disaster

Published Jan 2006

Author

false

Publisher

Focus themes

Open full report
Key aspects of good policy on disaster preparedness

This paper sets out eleven elements that are essential in planning disaster preparedness measures:

  • public awareness is an essential element of preparedness for saving lives and livelihoods
  • individuals and communities play important roles in managing risks from natural hazards
  • diverse livelihood systems and micro-financial services help poor people to survive disaster events
  • traditional knowledge is valuable and can inform and protect communities
  • disaster knowledge should be included in formal education curricula
  • early warning systems are needed for all hazards and all people
  • land use planning and protection of ecological systems can reduce disaster risks
  • developing and adhering to building codes can minimise risks and losses
  • political and public commitment to reduce the risk of disasters is imperative
  • humanitarian and development innovations are needed to reduce disaster risks
  • natural hazards span borders and their management requires global cooperation.

Each of the elements is illustrated with examples from the 2004 Asian tsunami disaster.

Related content

  • Document

    Delocalization and Uprooting: The adverse impact of peace in Syria

    J. Beaujouan, E. Ghreiz, A. El hafi / University of Edinburgh, 2021
    The military intervention of Russia alongside President Bashar al-Assad in Syria in September 2015 was a game changer in the conflict that erupted in March 2011. In addition to changing the predicament on the ground in favour of the Syrian regime, the Russian presence in Syria altered the nature of local peacemaking in areas recaptured from opposition forces.
  • Document

    Introduction to the Amnesties, Conflict and Peace Agreement Database

    / University of Edinburgh, 2021
    Professor Louise Mallinder introduces the ground-breaking new amnesties database published by Queen’s University Belfast School of Law and the University of Edinburgh’s Political Settlements Research Programme.
  • Document

    Like Birds in Cages: Community Definitions and Concepts of Home, Rights, Justice, and Citizenship

    , / University of Edinburgh, 2021
    A participatory action research project was undertaken from November 2020 to February 2021 in which three Rohingya researchers asked 33 of their fellow Rohingya refugees living in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh camps to share their own definitions and concepts regarding four terms: home, justice, rights, and citizenship.
  • Document

    Peace on Earth? The Tradition of Christmas Ceasefires Across the World

    / University of Edinburgh, 2021
    There is a worldwide tradition of declaring ceasefires during the Holidays, but do these lead to lasting peace? Sanja Badanjak and Laura Wise draw on examples from the PA-X Peace Agreements Database to investigate these annual rituals, from Northern Ireland to the Philippines.
  • Document

    Pens Against Guns

    J. Beaujouan, E. Ghreiz, A. El hafi / University of Edinburgh, 2021
    The uncertain future of Syrian journalism
More like this