World Disasters Report 2014 - Focus on culture and risk

This year, the World Disasters Report looks at different aspects of how culture affects disaster risk reduction (DRR) and how disasters and risk influence culture. The report asks, for example, what should be done when people blame a flood on an angry goddess (River Kosi, India, in 2008) or a volcanic eruption on the mountain god (Mount Merapi). After the tsunami in 2004, many people in Aceh (Indonesia) believed that Allah had punished them for allowing tourism or drilling for oil, and similar beliefs were widespread in the United States regarding Hurricane Katrina, showing God’s displeasure with aspects of the behaviour of the people who live in or visit New Orleans.

One important goal of this edition of the World Disasters Report is to bring these complex issues into the open for discussion, so that they can be much better incorporated into DRR work. It begins the process in which we all need to develop new ways of thinking and acting for DRR so that IFRC organizations have a much better alignment with the way people think and act.

This publication does not provide all the answers to these complex issues, which vary a great deal around the world. But it shows where the starting points are. It gives some indications of the direction in which we need to go and draws on examples of good integration of traditional and ‘modern’ ideas for achieving effective vulnerability reduction. Recognizing the significance of the different ways of believing and behaving will increase the effectiveness of DRR and development initiatives generally and pave the way for greater impact in our responses to the challenges stemming from climate change.