LIRNEasia, Sarvodaya and the partners of the HazInfo project have been saying this and more importantly implementing this.
Hope the message will be heard.
Reuters AlertNet – News – Prevention spending must be doubled
Governments, aid agencies and humanitarian actors must spend twice as much on disaster preparedness activities that could save millions of lives, the British Red Cross has urged.Almost two years on from the devastating Indian Ocean tsunami, risk reduction remains low on the international agenda despite encouraging progress in tsunami-affected regions themselves.
“The tsunami highlights the importance of proactively preparing for disasters and this lesson must be learnt and risk reduction must become a high priority in all disaster-prone areas,” said David Peppiatt, British Red Cross head of policy.According to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, global spending on disaster preparedness is currently estimated at around four per cent of the £500 million (US$10 billion) spent annually on humanitarian aid. But this must rise to at least ten per cent to protect the lives of people in vulnerable communities.
Around 52 pence (US$1) spent on prevention can save up to £5 (US$10) on recovery, says the Federation.
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