The role of data to evidence and structure DRR strategies

Chair: Audrey Lessard-Fontaine (CartONG)

In the past 10 years, a lot more focus has been put on Disaster Risk Reduction and studies have established that managing risk instead of managing disasters is more cost effective. However, assessing risks and establishing a strategy is often not included in planning operations and budgets since this is seen a specialist’s task and passed as a standalone activity instead of an activity which should be integrated into programs especially in countries with higher risks. Also, for many humanitarians it is not clear what open data is out there which can be integrated into assessing risks and how, and not many user friendly tools exist to help a non-specialist to make sense of what is at stake. Several actors are now not only focusing on making resources on disaster risk reduction available but also working on tools which allow a non-expert to gain an insight on prevailing disaster risks on a country basis, as well as understanding which open data is available for this. Can such tools be used and promoted to create awareness and understanding of how DRR activities can be integrated more systematically in humanitarian programmes? Can the availability of open tools and data lead to more effective risk assessments, including by non-experts?

Emylin Hagen (IMMAP)

Stuart Alexander Fraser (GFDRR- World Bank)

Flore Guiffault (EHESS Paris)