Leave No One Behind

Over the last 10 years, two billion people have had their lives turned upside down by disasters. We are making progress in reducing disaster impacts, and overall, deaths are going down. But our prevention efforts are still leaving millions behind. Why? Poverty. People in the poorest countries are seven times more likely to be killed by a natural hazard, but international funding for disaster risk education and preparedness is not going to the countries most at risk. Many poor and marginalized communities live in legal limbo. Left off the map, lacking identity documents, and forgotten when we build our risk reduction programs. Too often we focus our attention on the national level, on the most populated and developed areas, and the people in the remote and hard-to-reach locations are left out. We know that older people with disabilities are more likely to die in a disaster than others. People who don’t speak the official language, often miss our warnings. We are still not doing what it takes to prepare for their special needs. Humanitarian and Development communities need to change. Change how and where we invest our resources. Focus on the most vulnerable. In our programs, our laws, and our policies. We need to make those furthest behind our top priority