CAFOD/GfGD Placement - One Week Left To Apply!

There's just one week left to apply for this fantastic opportunity - all you need is a CV and a 250-word statement outlining why you would like this opportunity, and which weeks in September you are available!

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GfGD are delighted to announce a fantastic opportunity to spend one week this September in the Humanitarian Department of the international NGO CAFOD, based in London (download a placement information sheet here). In the space of a week you won’t have time to undertake a specific project or be applying lots of the geology you have learnt – but you will get a highly valuable opportunity to see how disaster risk reduction and emergency response operate within a large NGO and get a preliminary insight into the development sector. There will be plenty of opportunities for you to ask questions, and the opportunity to meet and talk about your experiences with GfGD’s Director.

This opportunity is open to all geoscience students in the UK who are currently coming to the end or have just finished the third or fourth year of their undergraduate course. We are currently not able to offer any funding to cover travel, food or living expenses during the week, and so advise all those applying that they will have to be able to cover these themselves. If you have family or friends in London that you can stay with for a week, this would be helpful. Individuals may be able to apply to their universities for financial support.

If you are interested in this placement, please send Joel Gill, GfGD Director (joel[at]gfgd[dot]org) a copy of your CV and a short personal statement (max. 250 words) outlining why you would like this opportunity and which weeks in September you are available. These will be reviewed and the successful candidate informed. DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS – MIDDAY, 23rd JULY 2012.

The successful candidate will be asked to (i) sign a Memorandum of Understanding, confirming that they will behave in a professional and appropriate manner, represent GfGD well and follow any guidelines set out by CAFOD and (ii) write a report for Geology for Global Development describing your work, what you learnt and how it benefited you.

If this placement is a success, we will hopefully have a second opportunity in Easter 2013 for those, who by that stage, will be in the third/fourth year of their undergraduate course.

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CAFOD is the official Catholic aid agency for England and Wales, working with partners in more than 40 countries across the world to bring hope, compassion and solidarity to communities that are poor, standing side-by-side with them to end poverty and injustice. CAFOD work with people of all faiths and none. Find out more - http://www.cafod.org.uk/.

Resources: GDACS

The Global Disaster Alert and Coordination System (GDACS) is a joint project between the United Nations and the  European Commission, and disaster managers worldwide - working to improve alerts, information exchange and coordination in the first-phase after major sudden onset disasters.

GDACS offers a helpful service, where you can subscribe for notifications and details of major (and minor) disasters, such as earthquakes, tropical cyclones, floods. This information is sent to a mobile/e-mail device as and when these disasters occur.

This is not only helpful for disaster management professionals, but also a useful way of keeping in touch with what's happening across the world - especially those things that don't make the UK national news (often in developing countries). For example, flooding in India over the past month has displaced more than one million people - and yet this has barely scratched the media in Europe.

CAFOD/GfGD Placement Opportunity

GfGD are delighted to announce a fantastic opportunity to spend one week this September in the Humanitarian Department of the international NGO CAFOD, based in London (download a placement information sheet here). In the space of a week you won’t have time to undertake a specific project or be applying lots of the geology you have learnt – but you will get a highly valuable opportunity to see how disaster risk reduction and emergency response operate within a large NGO and get a preliminary insight into the development sector. There will be plenty of opportunities for you to ask questions, and the opportunity to meet and talk about your experiences with GfGD’s Director.

This opportunity is open to all geoscience students in the UK who are currently coming to the end or have just finished the third or fourth year of their undergraduate course. We are currently not able to offer any funding to cover travel, food or living expenses during the week, and so advise all those applying that they will have to be able to cover these themselves. If you have family or friends in London that you can stay with for a week, this would be helpful. Individuals may be able to apply to their universities for financial support.

If you are interested in this placement, please send Joel Gill, GfGD Director (joel[at]gfgd[dot]org) a copy of your CV and a short personal statement (max. 250 words) outlining why you would like this opportunity and which weeks in September you are available. These will be reviewed and the successful candidate informed. DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS – MIDDAY, 23rd JULY 2012.

The successful candidate will be asked to (i) sign a Memorandum of Understanding, confirming that they will behave in a professional and appropriate manner, represent GfGD well and follow any guidelines set out by CAFOD and (ii) write a report for Geology for Global Development describing your work, what you learnt and how it benefited you.

If this placement is a success, we will hopefully have a second opportunity in Easter 2013 for those, who by that stage, will be in the third/fourth year of their undergraduate course.

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CAFOD is the official Catholic aid agency for England and Wales, working with partners in more than 40 countries across the world to bring hope, compassion and solidarity to communities that are poor, standing side-by-side with them to end poverty and injustice. CAFOD work with people of all faiths and none. Find out more - http://www.cafod.org.uk/.

The Politics of Earthquakes

Let me draw your attention to a very interesting and thought-provoking article published by The Los Angeles Times, and written by Claire Berlinksi. The article, The Politics of Earthquakes, outlines how corruption, law enforcement and politics can significantly influence the impact of an earthquake on a major urban area. As Berlinksi writes, "seismic risk mitigation is the greatest urban policy challenge the world confronts today."

The article highlights the huge seismic risk to many of the world's largest cities - cities such as Tehran, Istanbul, Lima, Islamabad, Mexico City and Kathmandu. Cities which are undergoing rapid (and often uncontrolled) urbanisation. It is often stated that the way to reduce risk in these cities is to promote economic development - seismic-proofing a city costs money, and thus is not a possibility for less economically developed countries. 

However, the article points out the vast differences between Turkey and Chile - with similar GDP per capita. A massive M8.8 earthquake struck Chile in 2010, outside the city of Concepcion, leaving 521 dead. While any death toll is tragic, Chile's commendable preparedness and enforcement of building standards meant this was not significantly higher. Berlinkski, however reports that the situation in Turkey is very different. Despite their GDP per capita being very similar, preparedness is not at the same level. There is neither the same structural soundness of buildings, enforcement of building regulations or public awareness campaigns.

Reducing the impacts of earthquakes and other hazards, therefore, is not simply a case of economic development. There is also a huge need to tackle corruption, have good urban planning, enforce building regulation and lead better preparedness campaigns. There is a big responsibility on (a) national and regional governments to enforce regulation and coordinate preparedness measures, (b) international governments to lobby those countries at risk and promote safe urban expansion and disaster risk reduction, (c) local communities to respond willingly and effectively to government measures, not to encourage corruption and to take responsibility for preparing their household.

Crisis in the Horn of Africa (1) - Emergency Relief

This post is part one of a two-part series examining how we should respond to the crisis in East Africa, and what role geologists have to play. This post looks at the current emergency humanitarian situation, and the types of rapid relief required. The next post will look in more detail at what geologists can do to prevent this type of crisis happening again. 

(1) The Emergency Situation

Last week I reported on the dire situation in the Horn of Africa, as a result of poor rainy seasons and thus severe drought. Since the UNOCHA released their helpful graphic highlighting the scale of this problem, the situation has been in the UK media most days as almost 3.2 million people need emergency aid. A number of international NGOs have begun appeals to raise the necessary funds to support the region, and the UK Department for International Development (DFID) has contributed around £38million towards feeding people in the region. 

(2) Relief Requirements

In addition to providing food there is an urgent need for clean, fresh water. Oxfam were on the news a short while ago, showing some of the equipment they were preparing to take over to the region to drill for groundwater and ease some of the stress. Lack of clean water means severe dehydration for many adults and children, the spread of disease and poor food production. The lack of water has also killed livestock which are a major asset of many people. When required these livestock are sold to raise funds to purchase food - however the lack of water has resulted in cattle being killed through dehydration. As cattle get weaker they are worth less, whereas cereal prices are rising - meaning it is increasingly difficult to purchase food. 

Each day thousands of people are arriving at the world's largest refugee camp - a camp built for 90,000 is currently holding 360,000 people. This puts a huge strain on the facilities available, with an urgent need for sanitation services and clean water. Without adequate sanitation facilities being built disease could spread rapidly through the camp, causing an even worse crisis. 

You can get a summary of the situation by watching this Channel 4 News Report:

(3) Role of Groundwater 

Groundwater is less affected by unusually low rainfall and therefore drought, as it takes time for water to enter an aquifer - thus average rainfall is more important. Groundwater can, therefore, be a lifeline to communities affected by droughts of the severity we are seeing in East Africa. Oxfam have stated that they are planning to drill boreholes to help communities find more sustainable sources of water. It is to be hoped that the drilling for groundwater in this region can be undertaken rapidly and successfully, particularly in locations where people are flocking - such as the refugee camps, and key facilities such as schools and hospitals.

Drilling for groundwater is not an easy task, and success is not guaranteed. Geologists will use resources such as geological maps, hydrogeological maps and field observations to determine what groundwater availability there could be in specific areas. Geophysical measurements will then be used to select suitable drilling locations and drilling depths. Holes are then drilled and water is hopefully encountered. In some cases water is not encountered and the hole must be abandoned. In other cases a test (known as a pumping test) to determine how much water there is available and how quickly it enters the well. This test can show that the water is sufficient or insufficient for abstraction. Finally, tests must be done to test the quality of the water and ensure that it is not contaminated.  

Groundwater mapping undertaken by the British Geological Survey in Ethiopia (see below) shows groundwater availability during a drought. Comparing this map with the map of areas affected suggest that accessing groundwater in the south-east of the country could be difficult, whereas groundwater in the central-south is more likely to be available, although could also be problematic. I'm not aware if similar maps exist for Somalia and Kenya. 

(4) Further Information

Crisis appeals have been launched by a number of charities:

Save the Children

Oxfam

Christian Aid

DFID have also released a press release:

DFID Press Release

Humanitarian Emergency Response Review: DFID's Response

When Lord Ashdown published his Humanitarian Emergency Response Review I authored a post broadly welcoming its conclusions. Its emphasis on anticipation, resilience and innovation was excellent and well thought through. The report seemed to be welcomed by NGOs across the country and it was sincerely hoped that the Department for International Development (DFID) would accept its conclusions.

Yesterday DFID's Secretary of State, Andrew Mitchell, outlined the Government's response to the paper - and did accept the vast majority of its conclusions. Andrew Mitchell stated that resilience will be built into all of its country programmes over the next four years. This transition from simply responding to emergencies to anticipating them, and building resilience into its core development work will result in reductions in lost lives, and reduce the social and economic impacts of such disasters. 

Outlined below are some key policy commitments (blue) made within this response and their significance:

Improve DFID's use of science in both predicting and preparing for disasters, drawing on the Chief Scientific Advisors’ network across government. Ensure scientific data on disaster risks is used to inform and prioritise country and regional level work on resilience.

• The increased and improved use of science in predicting and preparing for disasters and building resilience is welcome. GfGD will be writing to DFID shortly to ask how geological science will be fed into this system, and state our belief that they should be making full use of geologist's knowledge and skills in this sector.

Make building resilience a core part of DFID’s approach in all of the countries where we work. Integrate resilience and disaster risk reduction into our work on climate change. 

• For every £1 spent on disaster risk reduction, around £7 can be saved in economic losses, as well as many lives saved. It is of huge benefit to build resilience across developing countries. As countries adapt to climate change, they must also build resilience to new and emerging threats. With this in mind GfGD will be writing to DFID to ask them to review their decision to end funding to the UNISDR

Make humanitarian research and innovation a core part of DFID research and evidence work. Establish a ‘virtual’ humanitarian research and innovations team, under the direction of DFID’s Chief Scientific adviser

• DFID's research must include ways to improve the anticipation of hazards and disasters. The development of multi-hazard risk assessments is one way to improve our understanding of the interaction of hazards.

Use innovative techniques and technologies more routinely in humanitarian response (for instance, cash transfers). 

• The use of GIS, remote sensing images and multi-hazard models will play a crucial role in planning a response to any humanitarian situation.

Work with others to establish a single set of common accountability standards, which require participation of the most vulnerable groups (women, children, old people and disabled people) in all stages of the programme cycle. 

• In order to ensure the long-term sustainability of any resilience programmes there must be wide-ranging participation of the community. For DFID to require participation of the most vulnerable groups is an important step towards improving sustainability. 

Designate a Director General as a humanitarian and resilience champion 

• The decision to have a senior member of the DFID team to champion resilience is welcomed. 

Incorporating disaster risk reduction into all areas of DFID's work is crucial to reducing the economic and social impacts of natural and man-made disasters. Building resilience within communities, improving modeling in order to help anticipate hazards and target resilience building, and improving innovation to reduce risk and improve our response are all very important. It is good news that the Government has welcomed the vast majority of the conclusions of this report. In order to get the maximum positive impact from adopting these measures DFID must draw strongly on good science and engineering knowledge. There is a clear role also for those with the specialised knowledge and skills of the geosciences.

Global Platform 2011 - Why is DFID ending aid to the UNISDR?

Earlier this year, DFID announced the results of two major aid reviews. The first, at the start of March, was the UK Aid and Multilateral Aid Review. The second, at the end of March, was the Humanitarian Emergency Response Review (HERR), conducted by Lord Paddy Ashdown. One of the key findings of the HERR was the importance of making disaster risk reduction (DRR) an intrical part of DFID's work, increasing anticipation, resilience and innovation. These are tasks in which geologists have the potential to play an important role. The HERR, interestingly, came after DFID announced earlier that month that they were ending their contributions to the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction.

The core mandate of the UNISDR, as stated on their website, is to serve as the focal point in the United Nations system for the coordination of disaster reduction and to ensure synergies among disaster reduction activities. The UNISDR main work includes:

- COORDINATING and sustaining partnerships to build disaster resilience and promote disaster risk reduction.

- CAMPAIGNING to build awareness of disaster risk reduction and reduce communities vulnerability to the impact of hazards.

- ADVOCATING for greater investment in disaster risk reduction

- INFORM and connect people by providing practical services and tools.

DFID's justification for the decision to end funding was based upon an assessment of value for money, effectiveness, results, leadership and accountability. In the Multilateral Aid Review, it states:

"UNISDR has not performed its international co-ordination role well. Other more effective institutions such as UNDP and GFDRR are judged to provide better value for money and DFID will increase its funding to them. UNDP is central to the delivery of the MDGs and is at the heart of the UN development system and currently plays an important co-ordination role on disaster risk reduction at the national level. GFDRR is more effective at mainstreaming DRR and climate change adaptation in country development strategies.

The UK will still be a member of UNISDR as it is part of the UN Secretariat, but DFID will no longer provide additional voluntary funding. This funding averaged £0.9m between 2002 and 2010."

However, in light of the HERR, was this the right decision to make? I recently came across an interesting article by Dr Tom Mitchell, who works at the Overseas Development Institute, which discusses the possible reasons behind DFID's decision. In the article, Dr Tom Mitchell suggests a number of reasons for this decision, labelling them as either wrong, very unlikely or very likely. The suggested reasons include things such as... was it very expensive to the taxpayer, is DRR not a priority for DFID, is there a better organisation to take its place or is DFID following a global trend in ending funding - all of these were labelled very unlikely or wrong. The reasons labelled as likely are more related to the appearance of a 'co-ordinating agency' in an era of results and weaknesses in the Multilateral Aid Review process. Dr Tom Mitchell concludes with an assessment that this was the wrong decision, and a hope that the HERR will stimulate a rethink.

So these are the two sides of this debate, and I'm sure there are many other points that others could contribute to this discussion. Dr Tom Mitchell states that many in the field would recognise that the UNISDR has considerable shortcomings - so it seems clear that there is a need for reform and improvements, the key question is whether DFID short be withdrawing its funding, and whether that decision should have been made before the HERR? Disaster risk reduction needs to be a central part of the UK's development programme - its results are not always obvious, until after a disaster happens, but it has the potential to make a significant difference - it is preventative, rather than a cure... and that surely must be an important part of global development.

Any thoughts, comments, feedback very welcome.

Case Study: Disaster Risk Reduction - Nepal

The Guardian 'Poverty Matters' blog, focusing on global development, published an article by Alan Duncan today (Minister of State for International Development, UK) in which he highlights the importance of Disaster Risk Reduction in the Asian country of Nepal.

A) GEOLOGICAL & HAZARD CONTEXT

Nepal, situated north of India - in the Himalayas, is located in the collision zone of the Indian Plate with the  Eurasian Plate (right centre in diagram below). This results in a very high risk of earthquakes, with an estimated 10,000 people killed as a result of seismic activity between 1900 and 2008 (NSET-Nepal, 2010). The last major earthquake was in 1934, and palaeoseismology suggests that they occur every 70 years - meaning a major earthquake is due in the region.

In addition to earthquake hazards, Nepal also suffers serious problems from flooding and landslides - both of them resulting in more deaths than earthquakes in the period 1971-2008 (Landslides = 3987, Floods = 2936, Earthquakes = 873, as stated by NSET-Nepal, 2010). 

B) VULNERABILITY

Nepal is very vulnerable to natural hazards, rapid urbanisation - especially in the large city of Kathmandu, with poor spatial planning and disaster management means that communities are very vulnerable to a large earthquake, with a conservative estimate of 40,000 being killed, and many more injured (Asian Disaster Preparedness Centre). The range of hazards that could strike Nepal also complicate the situation. Communities are vulnerable to seismic-induced landslides, water-induced landslides, flooding and other hazards (wildfires etc), with the varied topography being a key factor in this. Poverty in this country increases the vulnerability to disasters. Building to resist earthquakes is expensive, and preparing communities requires investment. 

C) DISASTER RISK REDUCTION

As Alan Duncan states, there is a real need for action to reduce the risk in Nepal, by supporting the Nepalese government to develop their disaster management plans, investing in community education, urban planning resources and other risk reduction methods. As the Nepal Risk Reduction Consortium established by the UN work to support the Nepalese in preparing for disaster, and reducing the impacts of that - it is important to:

1) Ensure excellent communication between all stakeholders, including scientists, engineers, social scientists, town planners, politicians and community representative. 

2) Ensure a sustainable programme is put in place - drawing on community participatory methods to ensure that risk reduction is in place at all levels.

3) Develop multi-hazard risk assessments in order to better understand the complex nature of the hazards 

1. Communication

In order to develop detailed and thorough disaster management plans, and a disaster risk reduction plan, there must be good and detailed communication between stakeholders. Geologists and engineers must communicate with social scientists and urban planners in order to ensure the science is accurate and detailed, and incorporated into their plans and procedures. Communities must be consulted and their experiences and knowledge drawn upon to ensure a sustainable programme and policies (see below). 

2. Sustainability
In order to make disaster risk reduction sustainable there must also be substantial community involvement at every level - from identifying hazards, to educating communities, to determining how communities can build resilience and in writing disaster management plans. My experiences in water & sanitation work show that simply pouring finance and building institutional knowledge will not guarantee success or sustainability - without working with the community, drawing on community knowledge and involving them in the decision making. Community participation builds ownership, a sense of responsibility and community knowledge. In a similar way, if DRR is going to be successful in Nepal it must engage people from all aspects of the community and not be a 'top-down' exercise.


3. Multi Hazard Risk Assessments

There is a real need to develop multi-hazard risk analyses for this area. Single hazard risk assessments (i.e. one for flooding, one for landslides, and one for earthquakes) have the potential to result in increased vulnerability to other hazards - they fail to incorporate the complex interaction of hazards, triggering mechanisms, or the increased vulnerability to one hazard if it follows another hazard. Disaster Management Plans also need to examine wide-ranging factors such as water & sanitation, in order to determine how that will work in a disaster, hopefully preventing epidemics of diseases such as cholera.

Further information on multi-hazard risk assessments (in the context of Japan) can be found in this post.

D) CONCLUSION

As stated in this blog's analysis of the Humanitarian Emergency Response Review by Lord Ashdown, there is a definite need for investment in disaster risk reduction, and it is welcomed that DFID is taking this seriously. However, as outlined above it must be ensured that there is communication at all levels, and that it is sustainable, with community involvement and knowledge being fed into the process. A move to multi-hazard risk assessments is also suggested in order to better understand the complex interactions between hazards, and so improve the response in Nepal to future disasters.

The Role of Geologists in Humanitarian Emergency Response

As reported on Monday, a review into the UK’s response to humanitarian emergencies has been conducted by Lord (Paddy) Ashdown and released yesterday. The review outlines ways in which the UK can improve its response to such emergencies, and anticipate such emergencies. Incorporating these into the core of DFID’s work is crucial – making sure their development work and humanitarian assistance are integrated. 

The report highlights seven threads to the approach needed to be adopted including:

1.   A more anticipatory approach – using science to aid in the prediction of and preparation for such emergencies. It is important to be preparing for disasters as well as reacting to them (including equipping at-risk governments/civil society with the means to act).

2.   Resilience – working with local people to strengthen the community’s capacity to be resilient to an event. This was highlighted as an area that needs to become much more central to DFIDs development activities. Resilience will mean the damage is less lasting and communities can recover more quickly.

The report cites an interesting example where Mozambique asked in 2006 for £2million pounds to invest in preparing for the impacts of floods – which it could not receive. Soon after, the international community had to spend £60million pounds responding to a flood season

3.   Improve the strategic, operational and political leadership of the international humanitarian system, including pushing for reform within the UN’s response procedures.

4.    Innovate to become more efficient and effective – using the best of new technologies and science, new processes and practices, and new ideas from those affected. More investment needs to happen in research and evidence.

5.   Increase transparency and accountability towards both donor and host country populations. More conversation needs to occur between donors and communities to ascertain exactly what they need, how they can be helped and who can help them. Vulnerable people can often be overlooked. On the flip side, measuring the impacts of resources is a key way to ensure accountability to donors.

6.   Create new humanitarian partnerships to allow DFID to better influence and work within an increasingly complex humanitarian system. The need for multilateral work in this area is crucial, and while DFID is commended for adopting this approach it suggests they should work to enable new partnerships with emerging nations, NGOs, faith groups etc

7.   Defend and strengthen the humanitarian space – humanitarian workers should be granted access and protection as they give assistance in areas affected by conflict. DFID should work with agencies that can access and help those in need and humanitarian aid should not be politicised.

The full report can be found here.

Over the past couple of years we have witnessed some awful natural disasters that have required significant humanitarian assistance. Earthquakes have rocked developing countries such as Haiti, as well as more developed countries such as Chile, New Zealand and Japan. Floods have been catastrophic in Pakistan, and Australia, and large landslides and flooding have hit Brazil. The way in which the UK responds to such disasters – especially in developing countries where the effects disproportionately affect the population is very important. The UK is the second largest bilateral global humanitarian donor, although in terms of its percentage of GNI trails behind a number of countries.

The results of the Humanitarian Emergency Response Review are broadly welcomed. As developing countries are urbanising, vulnerability to disaster is in many ways increasing and steps need to be taken to ensure the international community’s response to disasters matures, as well as the anticipation of disasters and building of resilience develops.

Geologists have a very important role to play in the factors of anticipation, resilience and innovation.

ANTICIPATION: In disasters such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, floods, landslides etc – geologists study the science of how they occur and can use their skills to understand and recognise vulnerable areas. While prediction is not always possible, understanding of vulnerable areas, frequency and magnitude can be understood to a certain degree

For example: The study of palaeoseismology can provide information on the frequency of historical earthquakes and their magnitude. This information can help inform governments and civil societies to prepare. The UK for example knows to expect earthquakes up to approximately magnitude 6 following the M5.3-5.9 earthquake in the late 1500’s (although this size is extremely rare (See here for more info on UK Seismic Hazard). In Chile, they must prepare for earthquakes significantly bigger than this, at Magnitude 9 or greater.

Data for some hazardous areas can be significant, but often in developing countries the data is gathered at a much slower rate, and so is less sizeable, as governments can invest less in their own monitoring and evaluation programmes. Geologists can play a major role in building up knowledge of the mechanisms of hazards, their appearance in history and the likely impacts of the hazard.  

From: http://www.afronline.org/?p=3835

RESILIENCE: Building resilience to minimise the damage of the hazard is another area of humanitarian work that geologists can play a crucial role in. The education of communities to understand how hazards are triggered can help people recognise the warning signs for a number of hazards. Understanding the relationship between landslides and water can help communities construct simple drainage mechanisms, avoid the undercutting of slopes and ensure deforestation doesn’t occur on vulnerable slopes. Understanding the relationship between earthquakes and tsunami’s was not understood by many communities in the tragic 2004 Boxing Day tsunami in Indonesia, understanding the risk of a tsunami following an earthquake can give communities that vital extra time to move inland. Education can involve a community led, participatory approach in order to build a sustainable programme.

As well as education, improving physical structures can develop resilience. Geologists can play a major role in identifying which areas of the city are must vulnerable and how resilience methods can change from place to place. The types of buildings required to withstand earthquakes will differ from one rock-type to another for example.   

INNOVATION:  With regards to innovation, geologists are doing various pieces of research, and must do more, to improve the understanding and preparation for humanitarian emergencies. Geologists and other scientists must work closely with social scientists in order to develop and improve better risk assessments for developing countries – including the development of multi-hazard risk assessments. Research into the effects of global climate change at a local scale, and mitigating any risks, is fundamental research to be collated, as is how increased urbanisation will impact the consequences of disasters.

The response DFID gives to this review, and the speed at which they respond, will be very interesting. DFID must take seriously the importance of Disaster Risk Reduction, and the economic benefits of it, and ensure it is integrate into the core of its work. The crucial role that scientists can play in this sector must also be recognised further – not only in terms of health and agriculture – but also with regards to geology and engineering.

Japan Earthquake: Photos & Donations

Earthquake Damage: 
www.redcross.org.uk/japantsunami

Following on from Tuesday's post about the multi-hazard nature of the disaster in Japan, The Telegraph website have an array of pictures from last weeks devastating earthquake and tsunami in Japan. They capture the power of the earthquake, the destruction of the waves that caused the widespread damage, and other hazards (fire, nuclear etc) triggered by the event. 


The BBC News continue to cover the disaster, and have a set of photographs highlighting the humanitarian challenge. You can read more about the struggle to help survivors here - as weather conditions, and infrastructure damage hinder the response.  

Emergency response teams are working hard to help survivors - providing blankets, food and clean water. Appeals are being run by World Vision and the Red Cross, amongst others, clink on the link to read more and make a donation.