Reuters AlertNet Lite - FACTBOX-Report highlights disaster success stories

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FACTBOX-Report highlights disaster success stories

28 Oct 2004
Source: AlertNet

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LONDON (AlertNet) - Good news and disasters don’t usually go hand in hand, but this year’s World Disasters Report by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) highlights some silver linings amid the gloom of recent catastrophes.

First, death tolls are down. The report finds that though the number of disasters rose by two-thirds over the past 10 years, the total number of people killed has declined, from an average of 75,000 per year between 1994 and 1998 to 59,000 between 1999 and 2003.

Second, funding is up. Donor countries’ contributions to official development assistance grew 11 percent in 2002 to $58.3 billion. Emergency also relief grew, to $3.9 billion in 2002 from $3.3 billion in 2001.

Finally, there are the local success stories such as the following.

Locals save hundreds after Bam quake
In December 2003, a major earthquake hit the southern Iranian city of Bam, destroying 85 percent of the city’s buildings and killing almost 31,000 people.

Local Red Crescent volunteers, using 10 Iranian sniffer dogs, were on the scene within five hours of the quake. They saved nearly 160 lives. Neighbours and other volunteers helped pulled hundreds more to safety.

The comparison with foreign rescue teams, who arrived within 24 hours, is striking. Thirty-four teams from 27 countries found just 22 people alive.

Islanders fight Nile floods
People on the island of Tuti, on the Nile in Sudan, are particularly vulnerable to flooding. To protect themselves, they have raised the entrances to their houses, plastered walls with water-resistant mud and reinforced riverbanks with sandbags and trees. Local volunteers use drums and the megaphone at the island’s mosque to warn of rising waters.

Seed bank helps Indian farmers
Cash crops -- wheat, rice, cotton -- introduced with the encouragement of the Indian government by farmers in Andhra Pradesh in southern India failed miserably in recent years because they are prone to pests and require expensive fertilizer to succeed. As a result, 4,000 to 5,000 farmers, heavily in debt, have killed themselves in the past six years.

A local NGO, the Deccan Development Society (DDS), stepped in with an idea that has rejuvenated farming in the area. By inviting people to collect seeds, many of which had been “forgotten” after the introduction of other crops, and tapping into local knowledge about what seeds thrive in Andhra Pradesh’s arid climate, DDS has created a seed bank available to struggling farmers.

The seeds travel the region in a convoy of decorated carts and provide a rallying point for public meetings about sustainable agriculture.

Gujarat’s poor invest to recover
Money lent to small investors in Bhuj, Gujarat, after the earthquake that struck the region in 2001 has paid off. Investors, many of them among the poorest victims of the quake, replaced their damaged homes and started businesses, which has energised the local economy and helped to alleviate poverty.

Looking to the future, the Asian Development Bank and the government of Gujarat think that if the investment climate is improved more local resources could be attracted to promote disaster recovery in other parts of the state.

Philippine volunteers get disaster training
The Philippines is one of the most disaster-prone countries in the world. From 1990 to 2000, some 35 million people were severely affected by mudslides, typhoons, and floods, and other disasters.

Since the mid-1990s, the Philippine Red Cross has trained local volunteers in disaster preparedness skills, from first aid to local hazard mapping. The campaign to raise awareness about disaster preparedness has been enhanced by collaborative projects with local government.

In Tibago, in southern Leyte Province, community volunteers built a seawall and the government provided a municipal engineer and heavy equipment.

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Last updated:Wed Jan 3 00:39:10 2007