Editorial

Citation

Wilson, H.C. (2000), "Editorial", Disaster Prevention and Management, Vol. 9 No. 5. https://doi.org/10.1108/dpm.2000.07309eaa.001

Editorial

As this journal approaches the end of its ninth year, I thought it would be worthwhile to take a retrospective look at that period in the history of civil emergency management.

Reading through the World Disaster Report 2000 published by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies makes sombre reading. Over the ten years reported in this publication, it highlights the fact that the number of disasters reported occurring in Africa has steadily increased from 51 p.a. in 1990 to 182 in 1999. The Americas show a slight increase from 106 to 123 over the same period whereas Asia showed a gradual decrease from 215 in 1990 to 135 in 1994 but then increased to 231 in 1999. Europe showed a similar decrease (138 in 1990 to 59 in 1994) with an increase to 72 disastrous events in 1999. Only Oceania has maintained a continued decrease over this ten-year period (from 36 to 15).

It is not worthwhile trying to evaluate the trend in number of lives lost over this period, as these are too variable to make statistical sense. However, over this period for all of these regions, over 592,000 people have reportedly lost their lives. Similarly, no trend analysis is feasible for the numbers of people affected by these events, but a staggering 1.96 billion people were reported as having been affected. The financial cost of these events over the ten-year period is put at US$741 billion.

That is the bad news; the good news is that the response that the international aid services have been able to offer has increased not only in value but also in speed of response. What aid is required is dependent on many factors, such as local stores, extent of damage to local infrastructures, local resistance and local vulnerability. This is an area that still needs further research and the identification of key priorities in a quick and efficient manner despite the chaos that ensues after a major disastrous event.

One of the disappointing facts that emerge from the reported figures is that the amount of aid coming from governments is not dependent upon the scale of the disaster or the perceived need, but is more in line with the political climate at the time of the disaster. This is sad. Governments should be more realistic and donate support in line with the event and not on what is politically correct at the time – but politics is politics, and unfortunately, nothing will change that.

Henry C. Wilson