International Day for Disaster Reduction – October 13, 2010

Cities around the world are at risk every day.

The Caribbean faces particular vulnerabilities which the Dominica Red Cross seeks to address through building resilience in communities. With this in mind, the Dominica Red Cross acknowledges the United Nations’ International Day for Disaster Reduction which takes place on Wednesday 13th October, 2010, by drawing attention to the risks facing cities in the region.

Caribbean cities are at risk for multiple reasons. The obvious threat of natural disasters such as earthquakes, hurricanes and volcanic eruptions, are compounded by the often dangerous locations of the cities. Some cities are located at the base of volcanoes, below sea level, as well as on reclaimed land, each of which presents inherent risks.

Further, some groups in cities are in greater danger as they live in low quality housing structures in high risk areas, which are often symptomatic of poverty. These dwellings, usually found on city peripheries, are built on steep foot hills and riverbanks, again disaster prone areas.

The International Federation of Red Cross Red Crescent Societies recently published the World Disasters Report 2010: Focus on Urban Risk in which the main reasons for urban risk to vulnerable people are discussed. This publication supports the efforts of the United Nations International Day of Disaster Reduction, the theme of which is Making Cities Resilient.

With this in mind the Dominica Red Cross, in collaboration with National Disaster Office, has been working diligently to build resilience in communities which will translate into safer cities and countries.

We support the UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction in Making Cities Resilient, and encourage city managers to sign onto the program http://www.unisdr.org/english/campaigns/campaign2010-2011/documents/campaign-kit.pdf .