UN Study Examines Disaster Risks

This is Robert Cohen with the VOA Special English Development
Report.

A United Nations report says better planning could help
developing countries reduce deaths from natural disasters.
One-million-five-hundred-thousand people died in natural disasters
between nineteen-eighty and two-thousand. These included
earthquakes, volcanoes, storms and severe dry periods. On an average
day, one-hundred-eighty-four people die in natural disasters.

These are the findings of a new
study by the U-N Development Program. An international team of
experts examined information collected over twenty years. They found
that disasters put development at risk. And they also found that the
choices that individuals, communities and nations make can create
new risks.

Researchers found that earthquakes killed more people by
comparison in countries with high growth rates in cities. They say
this is mainly because of poor quality housing and crowded
conditions. Flooding caused more deaths in countries with widely
spread populations. Rescue workers have a hard time reaching
victims.

Things like armed conflicts can turn dry weather into situations
where people starve. Droughts and floods can also increase the
spread of disease.

The researchers created a special measure to show that poverty
and the risk of dying in a disaster are linked. They call it a
Disaster Risk Index. They gathered the number of people exposed to
disasters in more than two-hundred nations. Then they compared those
numbers to the populations of the countries.

The researchers found that only eleven percent of people exposed
to natural disasters live in developing nations. However, these
people represent more than fifty-three percent of the deaths
recorded.

The study urges governments to develop better city planning. It
also urges them to improve methods to rescue disaster victims. More
importantly, the researchers say a strong government structure is
needed. They say this can reduce disaster risks and improve
development.

The U-N researchers say they hope the study will improve
understanding of the relationship between disaster risk and
development. Their report is called "Reducing Disaster Risk: A
Challenge for Development."

This VOA Special English Development Report was written by Jill
Moss. This is Robert Cohen.