Integrated Risk Management to Protect Drinking Water and Sanitation Services Facing Natural Disasters

Updated - Tuesday 15 April 2008

DIEDE and AIDIS (2008)

The number of natural disasters that devastate communities has been increasing for 30 years. Emergencies such as the Indian Ocean earthquake or the Hurricane Mitch underline the essential nature of drinking water and sanitation. The restoration of services is an indispensable strategic factor for the survival of communities.

Disasters have greater impact on countries and communities with lower incomes, generating a vicious circle of poverty, underdevelopment and vulnerability to further disaster. The less a country protects itself and the less it is able to recover, the more it is vulnerable to future disasters.

This TOP explains the concept of integrated risk management, a strategic and proactive approach to anticipating, assessing and managing natural events. By analysing the main risks and investing in prevention and mitigation, societies become less vulnerable. Financial, social and environmental damage and rehabilitation and reconstruction costs are reduced. This approach is already having an important effect in a number of countries of Latin America.

This TOP shows what can be learned from these experiences, and why prevention is better, more effective and as much as twenty times cheaper than cure.