Publications & Research

We provide a platform between researchers, disaster practitioners, healthcare professionals and students for expertise exchange, collaboration and policy discussion.

Publications & Research

The HKJCDPRI Publications Section contains collaborative researches and publications with our partners and renowned academic institutions, and other research and development projects related to disaster preparedness and response.

The Guidelines section contains our selected collection of technical information, operational guidelines and useful tools for disaster management.

The Blog sub-section provides a platform where our team and peers share news and updates, as well as opinions and experiences in building disaster preparedness for the communities.

The blog posts are written by the author in his own personal capacity / affiliation stated. The views, thoughts and opinions expressed in the post belong solely to the author and does not necessarily represent those of Hong Kong Jockey Club Disaster Preparedness and Response Institute.

All resources listed here are freely and publicly available, unless specified otherwise. We ask users to use them with respect and credit the authors as appropriate.

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2019

11/10/2019

International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction - Let's have a global view

The Annual International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction (IDDRR) will be held on 13 Oct 2019 (Sunday) this year. What is the International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction? International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction began in 1989, after a call by the United Nations General Assembly for a specific day to develop a culture of disaster risk-awareness and disaster reduction globally. Held every year on 13 October, the day reinforces how people and communities globally are reducing their risks to and impacts from disasters, and raising awareness in reducing their individual risks.

The Annual International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction (IDDRR) will be held on 13 Oct 2019 (Sunday) this year.

What is the International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction?

International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction began in 1989, after a call by the United Nations General Assembly for a specific day to develop a culture of disaster risk-awareness and disaster reduction globally. Held every year on 13 October, the day reinforces how people and communities globally are reducing their risks to and impacts from disasters, and raising awareness in reducing their individual risks.

The 2019 edition will focus on Target (d) of the Sendai Framework, reduce disaster damage to critical infrastructure and disruption of basic services.

To prepare ourselves for the upcoming IDDRR, let’s have a look at some statistics on disasters around the world published last year.

In 2018, there were 315 natural disaster events recorded with 11,804 deaths, over 68 million people affected, and US$131.7 billion in economic losses across the world.

Overview statistics on natural disasters occurrence around the world in 2018 (CRED)

The burden was not shared equally as Asia suffered the highest impact and accounted for 45% of disaster events, 80% of deaths, and 76% of people affected. Globally, Indonesia recorded nearly half the total deaths (47%), while India recorded the highest number of people affected (35%). Earthquakes were the deadliest type of disaster accounting for 45% of deaths, followed by flooding at 24%.

Number of deaths per disaster type 2018 (Graphic: UNISDR; Data source: CRED)

Flooding affected the highest number of people, accounting for 50% of the total affected, followed by storms which accounted for 28%. Given Asia’s large land mass, higher population relative to other continents, and multiple hazard risks, the results are not surprising.

Hong Kong, most notably, was hit by Typhoon Mangkhut in 2018. The typhoon broke many typhoon records in Hong Kong, and although luckily there were no deaths recorded in Hong Kong from the typhoon, it rose an alarm for gaps in disaster preparedness individually and within communities.

Let’s compare the disaster statistics of 2018 with the disaster trends from the past decade (1998 – 2017).

In the past 10 years, floods were also the most common type of disaster to happen, accounting for 43.4% of all disaster occurrences, followed by storms which accounted for 28%.

Number of disasters per type 1998 – 2017 (Source: CRED, UNISDR, 2018)

In the past decade, 56% disaster deaths were attributed to Earthquakes, most significant of which was the 2010 Haiti Earthquake and the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami.

Number of deaths per disaster type 1998 – 2017 (Source: CRED, UNISDR, 2018)

Flooding affected 2 billion people in the past decade, most significant of which was the North India Flood in 2013 that killed nearly 6000 people; second was drought, that affected 1.5 billion, some of the worst which happened in developed regions such as Australia and North America.

Number of people affected per disaster type 1998 - 2017 (Source: CRED, UNISDR, 2018)

However, Dr. Debarati Guha-Sapir, head of CRED at UCLouvain, reminds us that there are a lot of invisible impacts of disasters that may not be accurately recorded in these statistics, particularly those of drought and extreme temperatures are notoriously poorly reported, especially from developing countries, probably due to lack of awareness and the ambiguous impacts. He emphasizes that “The human impact of these events, are difficult to quantify, but it needs to be done urgently, especially in order to report on specific SDG target indicators. Therefore, innovative approaches that measure progress in resilience and the adaptive capacity of communities needs to be addressed by appropriate UN agencies.”

To read more about Natural disasters in 2018, please read “Natural disaster 2018” published by the Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters, or read the Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters Crunch #54 – “Disasters 2018: Year in Review”.

29/09/2019

New Indicators of Resilience added to the Safe Cities Index 2019. Tokyo, Singapore and Osaka ranked top 3.

11/09/2019

Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction (GAR) 2019 Published

The Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction (GAR) is a biennial global assessment of disaster risk reduction highlighting latest updates, emerging trends, disaster patterns and progress in reducing risk. It aims to focus international attention on the issue of disaster risk and encourage political and economic support for disaster risk reduction. The GAR is produced by the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction in collaboration and consultation with a wide range of stakeholders, with thinkers, practitioners, experts and innovators to investigate the state of risk across the globe.

The GAR19 (the GAR 2019) moves beyond disaster risk to consider the pluralistic nature of risk: in multiple dimensions, at multiple scales and with multiple impacts. It provides an update on how we – as governments, as communities and individuals – understand our relationship with risk and its reduction.

The Full Report and a guided tour are available at the GAR19 Website: https://gar.unisdr.org/report-2019

Want some quick take-home messages from the detailed full report? The GAR19 Distilled collates 10 take-home observations from GAR19. Each observation is linked to the relevant section in the GAR19 main report. The link to GAR19 Distilled: https://gar.unisdr.org/sites/default/files/gar19distilled.pdf

The GAR19 Distilled offers 10 take-home messages from the full report.

An illustration showing evolution of the global policy agenda for disaster risk reduction: A journey through time and space.

An illustration showing how systemic risks are assessed and analysed: Mapping the topology of risk through time.

by HKJCDPRI

30/04/2019

Gaps between Knowledge and Actions in Disaster Risk Reduction

Recently, I attended the 4th Global Summit of Research Institutes for Disaster Risk Reduction (4th GSRIDRR) in the Disaster Prevention Research Institute, at Kyoto University. And I managed to take away with me a few major learnings from the Summit, which I wish sharing here! My first learning was about the new scientific challenges to disaster risk reduction and disaster risk management, and there is continuing need to foster uptake of science in government and industries to support implementation – suggestions on what works! I found the organization by Gluckman on the “Five categories of science advice” very comprehensive:

My first learning was about the new scientific challenges to disaster risk reduction and disaster risk management, and there is continuing need to foster uptake of science in government and industries to support implementation – suggestions on what works! I found the organization by Gluckman on the “Five categories of science advice” very comprehensive:

“Five Categories of Science Advice” (Gluckman 2016)

In fact, one of the new scientific challenges is how to close the gaps identified between scientist and decision makers.

The second learning was about the need for holistic scientific advice during crises. According to Professor Virginia Murray, Sendai Framework highlighted the need for holistic scientific advice during crises and emergencies; and the key role of individual science advisor is to be that of “knowledge brokerage” during crises. I was stunned by the comprehensive list of knowledge connections presented, and the continuing establishment of institutes, conferences in disaster risk reduction, as well as the passion in learning by students coming from countries where natural hazards are part of life.

The next learning was about the need in synthesis of knowledge. I could not agree anymore with Professor Murray’s concluding thoughts that there is a need in synthesis of knowledge to inform decision makers at local, national, regional and global levels; we have to learn how to face a new era of risks and to jointly enhance our resilience. Knowledge transfer, co-development of solutions, and continuous uptake of innovative solutions are the ingredients of a more resilient society. However, risk awareness, communication, training and education are imminent for stakeholders at all levels, particularly for urban cities which have been in the comfort zone (fortunately!), such as Hong Kong.

In parallel, I learnt about the interests and demand in structured training and certification in emergency planning, management and disaster preparedness. It resonated with the public’s interests in Hong Kong where there have been varieties of non-accredited training programmes in the discipline offered by various community partners. However, these courses could not be inter-linked to create a synthesis of knowledge due to lack of coordination in their curriculum design and implementation. There was a huge challenge for learners to put the fragmented learning outcomes of these courses into practice and actions.

I recalled reading an article on Risk Governance: Application to Urban Challenges (2018). People living in urban environments face multiple risks which range from financial risks, physical risks (natural hazards), technological risks (building structures, infrastructure, hazardous facilities), and social risks (violence, social dissatisfaction).These risks are often inter-linked with each other, hence, need for an integrated governance approach for systemic risks. To put into practice, we need to focus on the steps between knowledge and action by:

Steps Between Knowledge and Action

The last but not the least learning was about the direction of investment in future, that investments should be made in disaster risk reduction for resilience, and there should be a paradigm shift in international funds from post event aids to real prevention, and mitigation action, and national capacity. Investments from local government and philanthropy should increase their weighting in education and training in disaster risk reduction, and to provide guidance for learners to put their knowledge into practice and actions following the concept of risk governance.