A section of one of the households demolished as a result of the March 2010 mudslides that affected vast areas of Bududa District in Eastern Uganda.

There is overwhelming evidence that the number and seriousness of disasters is increasing, and that poor countries and communities are disproportionately affected. Poor countries suffer far more economic losses caused by disasters in proportion to their GDP, undermining hard won development gains and further weakening the potential for development. Poorer countries lack the resources and have weaker capacity to mitigate potential disaster impacts or respond when a disaster occurs.

Climate change is believed to be increasing the scale and frequency of disasters world wide. It is widely accepted that climate change has a direct impact on the prevalence and seriousness of disasters. Higher rainfall, increasing drought, changing temperatures and rising sea levels will probably make disasters more frequent in the future. Over the last 30 years, disasters have increased both in frequency and intensity.

In Uganda, over 4 million people have been affected by disasters since 1900, and more than 200,000 have died from disaster-related causes. Drought alone has affected over 3.2 million people. The biggest killer has been epidemics, accounting for nearly all of Uganda's disaster-related deaths. Click here for graphs of historical disaster statistics in Uganda.

Disasters can be avoided or reduced when long term preventive and/or mitigation measures are implemented that reduce the root causes of vulnerability of communities to negative impacts of hazards. In addition preparedness measures are also critical, through effective early warning system, awareness raising on risks and setting systems that promote timely and effective humanitarian response when disasters strike. This comprehensive approach is what is popularly referred to as Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR).

Disaster Risk Reduction in Uganda

The Ministry of Relief, Disaster Preparedness and Refugees in the Office of the Prime Minister serves as the Government of Uganda’s focal point for disaster risk reduction in Uganda. The Ministry is currently focusing on the imminent adoption of the draft National Disaster Preparedness and Management policy, and thereafter will concentrate on its implementation. More

The ISDR Secretariat, from its regional office in Nairobi, has supported the drafting and consultation process on the draft national policy. It is also supporting wider Disaster Risk Reduction strategy initiatives in Uganda, such as the recent consultation on Drought Risk Reduction strategy development (May 2010). 

There is a National Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction hosted by the department of Disaster Preparedness and Management. This is a multi-stakeholder national mechanism that serves as an advocate of DRR at different levels. It provides coordination, analysis and advice on areas of priority requiring concerted action. The platform draws membership from key government ministries, UN agencies, International NGOs and academia. The platform has developed a work plan to guide its operation in 2010. More

UN OCHA's Role in Disaster Risk Reduction

UN OCHA prepares the international humanitarian community to respond timely and appropriately by promoting a common understanding and analysis of disaster risks amongst the humanitarian community. OCHA’s global mandate in DRR is to advocate for, and promote the implementation of priority 5 of the Hyogo Framework for Action (Disaster Preparedness for effective response at all levels). In Uganda, OCHA advocates for greater preparedness within the humanitarian community and undertakes Lessons Learnt exercises (e.g. the Floods Lessons Learnt). OCHA will continue to support the development of overall preparedness and/or contingency plans by governmental authorities and humanitarian community to ensure that emergency responses are carried out in a coordinated and timely manner.

Disaster Risk Reduction initiatives

The Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA) is the key global instrument for implementing Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR), and has been adopted by the Member States of the United Nations. Its overarching goal is to build resilience of nations and communities to disasters, by achieving substantive reduction of disaster losses by 2015 – in lives, and in the social, economic, and environmental assets of communities and countries. The HFA offers five areas of priorities for action, guiding principles and practical means for achieving disaster resilience for vulnerable communities in the context of sustainable development. More

At regional level, an Africa Regional Strategy for Disaster Risk Reduction was proposed to contribute to the attainment of sustainable development and poverty eradication by facilitating the integration of disaster risk reduction into development. The Strategy’s objectives are to: (1) increase political commitment to disaster risk reduction; (2) improve identification and assessment of disaster risks; (3) enhance knowledge management for disaster risk reduction; (4) increase public awareness of disaster risk reduction; (5) improve governance of disaster risk reduction institutions; and (6) integrate disaster risk reduction into emergency response management. The strategy includes broad directions to achieve these objectives.

A programme of action for the implementation of the Africa Regional Strategy for Disaster Risk Reduction was developed in 2005. More..

QUICK LINKS

Uganda Disaster Preparedness (UDP) Workshop - 2008