Preventive Resettlement of Populations at Risk of Disaster, Experiences from Latin America

Latin America and the Caribbean Region has the highest urbanization rate in the developing world, with 80 percent of the population living in cities. It is also the region that, after Asia, has the highest number of disasters a year. 

The Haiti and Chile earthquakes in early 2010, and the major floods in Brazil, Colombia, and Venezuela at the end of that year, are recent examples of the onslaught of natural disasters impacting the region. In the last 40 years, these events have killed over half a million and left another 170 million hurt or homeless.

Major disasters since 1985, such the earthquake in Mexico and the Nevado del Ruiz volcanic eruption in Colombia, have led governments to develop legislative and institutional frameworks for disaster risk management; these reflect a paradigm shift from an approach that focuses on emergency responses to one that reduces the risk factors by incorporating disaster risk management strategies in the development planning agendas.

Preventive resettlement of at-risk populations is now being implemented, among other disaster risk reduction measures. This publication, Preventive Resettlement of Populations at Risk of Disasters: Experiences from Latin America, presents case studies illustrating how various countries have incorporated this measure in innovative ways. Through examples included in this book, practitioners can compare the advantages and disadvantages of various resettlement alternatives, as well as learn how institutions have been organized and community awareness raised, the types of sources of financing obtained, and how reclaimed areas have been controlled, providing important lessons for future interventions.