Natural disasters are inevitable. Risk can be effectively reduced through pinpointed, surgical interventions
Rapid and largely unmanaged urbanization in disaster-prone towns and cities is increasingly becoming a major driver of risk in the developing world. As the world’s urban populations continue to grow, more people live in older buildings not built to life-safety standards, exacerbating problems related to unregulated new building development and land use. These challenges set the stage for increased economic and social losses from natural disasters, leaving urban populations highly vulnerable, particularly the urban poor. Many people are just one disaster away from poverty.
Pre-disaster efforts to improve disaster-response coordination and the ability of governments to carry out rapid and informed responses, early recovery and reconstruction decisions post-disaster can help lessen the potential hardships to disaster-affected communities and mitigate against the compounding economic and social impacts of a disaster. Miyamoto works to share lessons learned and the knowledge gained from its work in post-disaster environments across the globe with governments and the private sector seeking to strengthen their disaster-management capabilities and systems.
A critical component of this work is to support government stakeholders in gaining a better understanding of disaster risk.
Prior to disasters, national and city officials often have only a general understanding of the impact that a disaster, such as an earthquake, will have on the built environment and its population. Miyamoto applies various scientific strategies to provide national and municipal disaster-management authorities with a clearer picture of the probable impact of a disaster, which helps inform and guide DRR/DRM policies and plans.
A key challenge is to turn scientific risk data into decisions. Miyamoto’s International’s development team is multi-disciplinary and experienced at facilitating political-planning processes around critical disaster risk reduction and post-disaster response activities – while also supporting their systemization and institutionalization. Working alongside government stakeholders to identify planning gaps, co-design strengthening measures or interventions, and provide technical assistance to help implement or update policies, plans and capacities for disaster-risk management governance allows Miyamoto to aid governments in their efforts to be better prepared to respond to disasters and protect their citizens.
Miyamoto is highly experienced in working with national and municipal governments in the aftermath of a disaster to support development and implementation of national, sector-specific or city response, recovery and reconstruction plans.