Disaster risk management at the regional level : the case of Asia and the Pacific

Hazards have no respect for the political boundaries of countries so it is essential for disaster risk management (DRM) to be developed with a strong regional perspective. This paper describes a wide range of regional initiatives in Asia and the Pacific that rely on innovative solutions being adopted within a holistic approach, linking national governments, regional organizations, diverse sectors, and public and private bodies. The study also illustrates how crucial the regional scale of engagement is for concentrating the common interests of individual government policy commitments to DRM while supplementing countries' own resources with expanded institutional relationships to energize a more sustained impetus to reduce disaster risks throughout the region. Regional attributes include the beneficial attention of distributed specialist technical, scientific, and academic institutions that are motivated by interests beyond disaster concerns.