Preparing to Live Sustainably with Increasing Natural Risks By Dr Shamshad Akhtar*

Posted by AsiaViews | Sep 24, 2017 | 0 |

CAMBODIA

The Phnom Penh Post

Sept 18, 2017

The past few weeks have been a grim reminder that natural disasters know no borders. They can strike countries at opposite ends of the globe simultaneously and whether in Asia or North America, the images of people and livelihoods being swept away are disturbing. Intense monsoon floods, Typhoon Hato, Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Irma, all raise questions about what more can be done to both mitigate the risks of extreme weather conditions and improve relief operations.

Disasters are becoming more frequent and intense. The UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), in its recent report Disaster resilience for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development: Leaving no one behind, shows natural disasters were responsible for the loss of 2 million lives and cost the region’s economy $1.3 trillion between 1970 and 2016. Over 90 percent of deaths were due to earthquakes, tsunamis, cyclones and floods. The poor and vulnerable bore the brunt of these disasters, suffering a death toll five times higher than the rest of the population.

By 2030, 50 percent of the Asian population will be living in urban areas. The combination of unplanned urban sprawl and new cities means increasing numbers of people and economic stock will be exposed to future disasters we cannot predict.

In urban megacities, over 50 percent of the population already live in disaster prone areas where inequality is high. Our focus must be on identifying potential scenarios, determining risk tolerance levels and building response capacity where it is inadequate.

Policymakers need to strengthen the science and policy interfaces to allow countries to deal effectively with these risks. The report offers a clear set of recommendations on how to build resilience and reinforce sustainable development in the region.

The importance of early warning cannot be over-emphasized. In 2004, the world experienced the Indian Ocean tsunami. It killed over 250,000 people and was one of the deadliest natural disasters ever recorded. Unlike the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean had no early warning system in place for coastal communities.

Thanks to a founding contribution of $10 million from Thailand, the ESCAP Trust Fund for Tsunami, Disaster and Climate Preparedness, has helped to plug this gap.

But for a tsunami warning system to be sustainable, it needs to address multiple coastal hazards. Regional cooperation can help share vital innovations in science and technology to strengthen tsunami early warning systems. ESCAP’s Trust Fund has helped to empower people through improved early warning of disasters and supported knowledge transfer from countries with strong disaster risk management capabilities to other Asia-Pacific countries. To take just one example, technical support, modern equipment and online technologies helped upgrade the Myanmar National Earthquake Data Center, to meet international standards for tsunami warning centers.

ESCAP, in collaboration with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Thailand, is organizing an event at the 72nd session of the UN General Assembly, titled “Disaster Risk Reduction in Asia Pacific: achievements in regional cooperation for tsunami, disaster and climate preparedness” to explore these issues further.

It was to take place yesterday, aiming to further present ESCAP’s research and showcase the ESCAP Trust Fund’s contribution to building people’s resilience to disasters, so that no one is left behind in pursuit of the Sustainable Development Goals.

*The write is Dr Shamshad Akhtar, undersecretary-general of the United Nations and the Executive Secretary of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific.

(http://www.phnompenhpost.com/analysis-and-op-ed/preparing-live-sustainably-increasing-natural-risks)

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EXTRICATING NDONESIAN CHILDREN FROM ISIS INFLUENCE ABROAD

Indonesia urgently needs to revisit the possibility of repatriating the neediest of its young citizens stranded abroad, whose families had earlier joined ISIS. Most of these children are in camps in northern Syria but there are also small numbers in the Philippines, Afghanistan and Iraq. “Extricating Indonesian Children from ISIS Influence Abroad”, the latest report from the Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict (IPAC) argues that the government could begin by bringing back small groups of unaccompanied children under ten years of age, who pose minimal security risk and are most vulnerable to deteriorating conditions in the camps.“The problem is that health and security conditions are worsening by the day in the Syrian camps, and the children are growing older,” says Dyah Kartika, IPAC analyst. “They need access to schools, a nurturing environment, and medical attention. If the government waits too long, the children will be further exposed to ISIS ideology.” The new report examines a 2019 list of Indonesians in camps and prisons run by the Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). The Indonesian government has been trying to verify their citizenship, but with pseudonyms, misspellings and bad transliterations, it is a daunting task. At the time the data was collected, between March and June 2019, there were 555 Indonesians in SDF camps and prisons, including 367 children. Among the children, approximately 277 were under the age of ten and 34 were unaccompanied. In June 2021, there are fewer than ten children who are both unaccompanied and under the age of ten that could be prioritized for return. Bringing back children of ISIS families is no easy task. The report analyses the main challenges faced by the Indonesian government. These include definitional issues, bureaucratic competition, the difficulty of verifying nationality, evaluating the toll of exposure to conflict, assessing security risk, and finding relatives or others willing to provide care once the children are returned. In addition, COVID has meant stringent restrictions on travel, placing further obstacles in the way of repatriation. There are several models for rehabilitation of children exposed to violent extremism in Indonesia that could be modified to accommodate the needs of children repatriated from abroad. The report examines these models and argues that the government does not need to have every detail of rehabilitation programs in place before it starts extricating children from ISIS influence. It can start by bringing back the most vulnerable children and then modify programs as needed.

“It’s important that the government see these children as victims” says Dyah. “They deserve a chance to be children again.”

Preparing to Live Sustainably with Increasing Natural Risks By Dr Shamshad Akhtar*