Managing Disasters
New threats to the safety and economic security of hundreds of millions of people are arising through more frequent and extreme disasters connected with increasing urbanization and climate variability. A first priority is disaster preparedness, cooperation between government agencies at different levels and the installation/maintenance of key water infrastructure in order to reduce the loss of life, jobs, property and business continuity when disasters occur. In this context, there are a number of different perspectives on the urgency of this problem, the cost-effectiveness of different levels of preparedness and the potential support needed from Official Development Assistance (ODA) in the most vulnerable Least Developed Countries and small island states.