World Disasters Report: Focus on Culture and RiskWorld disasters report

One important goal of this edition of the World Disasters Report is to bring these complex issues and clashes of cultures into the open for discussion, so that they can be much better incorporated into Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) work. The first part (Chapter 2) assesses the effects of religion and other beliefs. The next chapters (3 and 4) examine the culture of DRR organizations, showing that they are all subject to beliefs and attitudes that frame their outlooks on risk and what should be done about them. It asks why DRR actors and organizations persist in giving priority to severe hazards when they know that most people do not mention them when asked what risks they face. It is difficult for most people to be concerned about occasional and unpredictable severe events (or climate change) when many of their problems are 'development' needs that have not been fulfilled. Fortunately, the need for convergence between DRR and development is part of the discussions of the successors to the Hyogo Framework for Action and the Millennium Development Goals. This World Disasters Report also explains how DRR must take account of all the causes of vulnerability -- including cultural ones -- as the starting point for risk reduction.