Disaster Risk Reduction in International Cooperation: Switzerland's Contribution to the Protection of Lives and Livelihoods

Foreword
Today half of the world's population is under threat from the forces of nature - one fifth of the earth's surface is regularly affected by earthquakes, vol-canic eruptions, floods, drought, landslides and storms. There are indications that such events are increasingly frequent. Moreover, the effects of cli-mate change are becoming evident.

The negative impacts of such natural events affect increasing numbers of people: 6.9 billion people live on our planet today and, according to UN esti-mates, this number will have grown to over 9 billion by 2050. Poor and densely populated countries are particularly vulnerable to the forces of nature: ex-isting structures can barely cope with minor events and are completely overwhelmed during major disasters. Thus the prevention and mitigation of existing risks, preparation for possible disasters and adaptation to a changing risk environment constitute life-saving and environment-sensitive measures that must assume a prominent position in comprehensive development programmes in the affected countries.

Prevention and preparedness pay off, although the direct benefit is often not immediately visible. In-vestments in better expertise in the areas of risk and crisis management, greater awareness among the population and the protection of life, liveli-hoods and assets are beneficial in the long run.

Enabling countries to attain a higher level of safety is a primary aim of the Swiss Agency for Devel-opment and Cooperation (SDC). As a logical con-sequence of emergency assistance, disaster pre-vention and preparedness constitute an explicit mandate for the Swiss Confederation's humanitari-an aid, and aim to assist affected populations, save lives, alleviate suffering, and to protect the most vulnerable victims. The SDC is committed to pro-moting and supporting sustainable development, which helps to withstand the forces of nature and improves climatic change adaptation.

The SDC assessed the effectiveness of its DRR commitments in 2010. The assessment provides information about the resources invested by Swit-zerland for the reduction of risks from natural haz-ards, the areas in which these investments were made and the results that have been achieved. The focus on DRR is not new, Switzerland started with DRR activities abroad in the early 1980s. DRR is a highly complex, long-term undertaking that de-mands constant advocacy and the broad-based in-volvement of numerous actors. The strong involve-ment of national, local and international partners is indispensable to the success of DRR projects and programmes.

Local and multilateral partners have a major stake in the positive outcome of DRR activities. I would like to express my profound gratitude for their commitment and contribution to the smooth functioning of our partnerships and I thank all of our partners for their ongoing.