Essay on Mitigating Disasters in Developing Countries

A natural disaster has the capability to cause large scale damage and destruction to an area. Seismic events have been known to alter landscapes and affect the livelihoods, health and development of communities. No two earthquake events are the same and the level of threat posed by an earthquake can vary due to both the human and physical factors of an area. The 2010 magnitude - 7.0 earthquake that occurred in Haiti is an example of where a natural disaster caused a previously vulnerable area to suffer tremendous loss and debilitating socio-economic impacts, to an already poverty-stricken nation.

natural disasters). Gallup et al. (2003, pp.41, 46) have estimated that natural disasters in Latin America over the last 30 years have cost up to $3.3 billion and in extreme disasters costs can reach 10 per cent of a country’s GDP. This, coupled with the fact that they suffer regularly from natural disasters due to their location, means that they find it harder to recover from them. The destruction of crops causes vast economic loss which cannot be regained as farmers rely on monoculture. Furthermore, many buildings in developing countries are often built from weak materials which causes mass destruction and costly re-construction which these countries cannot afford.

Natural disasters cause a lot of damage to the economies in Latin America when they happen. The damage can last for months, years or even decades. Natural disasters are hard for everyone, but it is even harder for Latin American countries to recover

An emergency is a severe, sudden and sometimes risky circumstances requiring urgent action (Salman Sawalha, 2014). Escalation of an emergency situation can lead to disaster; which is an unusual event that can cause lost of life and property (Salman Sawalha, 2014). International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRRCS) define disaster as “unexpected devastating events that disrupts the operations of a population or public which leads to huge losses and overwhelmed the affected community 's ability to respond to the situation with the resources they have at hand”. There are two main types of disaster that can lead to emergency situations; these include natural and man-made disasters.

Overpopulated, economically distressed, common ground for natural disasters, and an Islamic nation: Bangladesh. Misconceptions and pre-conceived notions are a human fault in the understanding of this nation-state. Although this country has its difficulties, the world does not fully understand the extent and the lack of its abilities and the changes that Bangladesh is making. Even though Bangladesh is densely populated it is taking steps to make a positive change, economically they are at a disadvantage but still growing, natural disasters can be devastating yet they find a way to use what is given to them, and a strong religion brings people together.

It is hard to say that all developing countries are not equal, because they aren’t. According to the data in Hans presentation, even though almost all countries have changed and had a percent of progress but not all of them got advanced in the same

Huge number of the masses living in violent urban areas characterised by instability, an absence of infrastructure and access to basic services, violence and destitution and also high disaster danger.

The third theory is underdevelopment theory. This theory have explain three types of country which is core, semi-periphery and periphery country. Immanuel Wallerstein also classificies the positions of country, which is based on the developed and developing countries according to their economics in the global level. This theory is about the “capitalist world economy” that means the people or the rich country who have the control of economy in certain places or a country (Sorinel, 2010). This level can be divided into core (rich country), semi-periphery (developing country) and periphery (poor country) (Sorinel, 2010). This theory show that how the capitalist or rich country manage the economy of the semi-periphery and the periphery country. This types have their own function in this theory.

Developed nations have the superior infrastructure. These countries have more bridges that are better maintained. They also have better highways and roads that are paved with fewer potholes. In addition, sewers, hospitals, housing systems, and police stations are modernized with sewers having large pumps pushing the water through to avoid floods. For instance, the city of Miami has initiated a project aimed towards flood prevention by “raising roads, installing pumps, and water mains and redo sewer connection” (Flechas, 2017). Hospitals, as well as, police stations have powerful generators that can power all of their electrical equipment allowing them to still be effective and serve the population. On the other hand, developing nations are very old-fashioned. They are sometimes corrupt and because they do not allow outside access from other countries they lack the knowledge and resources. These countries are not able to create advanced hospitals with modern equipment and laboratories to treat their patient's conditions. They also lack medical supplies

“Bangladesh is the nature's laboratory on natural disaster.” says Ainun Nishat, from the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Devastated by floods, a low lying south Asian country with a high poverty rate and severe food insecurity, suffers the consequences of on-going destructive natural disasters. Their habitual food insecurity is one of the most concerning outcomes that significantly impacts people’s wellbeing. One of the local citizen uttered, “The flood has washed away all our happiness, my son had three acres of rice and crops and all is now underwater. What will we eat now? My family will starve. “ Bangladesh’s food security is extremely vulnerable and tremendously deteriorated under three major threats, continual climate changes, water scarcity, and poverty .

The questions are raised as what and how the wealth is distributed or allocated among societies. Countries with similar average incomes can differ substantially when it comes to people’s quality of life such as social justice, access to education and health care, job opportunities, availability of clean air and safe drinking water, the threat of crime, freedom of speech, life expectancy, birth-death control, identity, culture, conservation, equal opportunities, environmental change. Development is important as it covers a wide range process involving cultural, economic, environmental, political, social and technological change of a country. Regarding goals and means of development, recent United Nations documents emphasize on human development measured by life expectancy, adult literacy, access to all three levels of education as well as people‘s average income which is a necessary condition of their freedom of choice. In other words, human development incorporates all aspects of individuals’ well -being from their health status to their economic and political freedom. The Human Development Report 1996 of UNDP focuses on development as the end and economic growth a

Natural disasters may be defined as natural catastrophes which cause great damage by disrupting the functioning of a society thus rendering the country incapable of coping through using its own resources as there is a need for outsider assistance in order to effectively preserve lives and the environment. Conversely, Natural hazards are natural phenomena that are potential threats to people within a society, structures or economic assets and may cause disaster. Natural disasters are inevitable and ubiquitous worldwide. Within the Caribbean, they are chiefly present in the forms of hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, droughts, and volcanoes. The great damages caused by natural disasters may be divided into three categories: social, economic

Investigating the Extent to Which States of Economic Development Influence the Way People Respond to Natural Hazards

Emergency managers in the United States have it easy compared to individuals who work in the developing world. Although challenges like limited budgets or political will may be universal problems, in places like Uganda, they are magnified. These areas are home to the most vulnerable populations. Where poverty, little to no infrastructure or government services, and a lack of access to education, create the potential for a disaster to inflict deviating damage. Mitigation programs have the greatest potential for reducing the impact of such events. However, unlike the United States, these countries often times don’t have the resources to establish and maintain many types of mitigation programs. As the world has started to become a globalized community, many industrialized nations have recognized this need, and want to provide aid to these countries. Because of the reality that this aid has its limits, and that every aid dollar is precious, it is important to be able to maximize the return on this investment. This Research project will identify key factors of successful mitigation projects throughout the developing world in order to establish a set of guidelines for future projects. With these guidelines, valuable time and resources will be saved and mitigation projects will have maximum impact on the communities they serve. This is not only a way of developing low cost projects to developing nations, but it is a way of insuring that investors in these types

Almost all Low-economic development countries are at the stage of level one and level two. Most of them are especially in level one in catastrophe risk financing because of the absent of national catastrophe fund arrangement and allocation. This gap makes these countries to relies heavily on international assistant which take several months to received it. The governments of these countries may also lack in human resources (technical experts) and knowhow (expertise) to conduct sustainable risk financing solutions in advance and on their own (as cited in Michel-Kerjan, E. et al., 2011). Therefore, they often focus on to assist the immediate needs of their people such as food, water and health instead of investing in long-term risk reduction actions. Moreover, some of the low-income countries with better economic development than others in same group are in level two which often means that the governments of these countries have limited capacity in both financial and technical expertise and still needs the helping hands from international partners.