WORKING PAPER: Equity and inclusion in disaster risk reduction: building resilience for all

This working paper was drafted in response to the current negotiations being undertaken to discuss the successor to the Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA). The HFA was established in 2005 as a 10-year plan to make the world safer from natural disasters.

This paper finds that the current draft for the HFA successor does not adequately address vulnerability, including poverty, gender, age, and disability. In an attempt to address some of these shortcomings, this paper provides information to move the debate from simple inclusion in disaster risk reduction (DRR) policy-making to more complex issues. Four main aspects of vulnerable, marginalised groups are in focus:

1. Marginalised groups are more likely to suffer from disasters
2. Disasters exacerbate vulnerabilities and social inequalities
3. Vulnerable groups tend to be excluded from DRR decision-making, thus making them even more vulnerable to the impacts of disasters
4. Vulnerable groups should be included in DRR as active agents of change to effectively and equitably build resilience.