Disaster Risk Assessment

Abstract

Tools for conducting disaster risk assessments at both national and local levels UNDP differentiates between two levels of risk assessments: national and local risk assessments. A national risk assessment is a strategic risk assessment that supports the design of national DRR strategies, policy and regulations, DRM programming, and budget allocation. A local risk assessment is an operational risk assessment for DRR action planning, contingency planning, pre-disaster recovery planning, and proper urban planning. UNDP provides specific methodologies and tools to conduct multi-hazard risk assessment at national and sub-national levels; guidance on multi-hazard urban risk assessment in major cities and on impact assessment of climate change at the national level; support to its partners on assessing the capacities of existing departments, identifying gaps, proposing and helping install mechanisms to address such gaps; and assistance in the establishment of community-based disaster management committees to conduct risk assessment in pilot regions. Build national disaster observatories (NDO) A NDO is a sustainable local institution that systematically collects, compiles and interprets historic disaster information. A NDO helps the countries to learn from their disaster history and incorporate that knowledge into the national DRR strategy and the implementation of disaster risk management activities. knowledge and understanding provided by a comprehensive risk assessment are fundamental. Furthermore, when the plans are being implemented, periodic evaluations of risk provide an explicit indication of progress in risk reduction. They help to evaluate the effectiveness of disaster risk reduction efforts and make the necessary corrections to the plans and strategies.