DISASTER MANAGEMENT PROGRAMME (DMP) OF UN-HABITAT "… to promote and encourage all parts of society to participate in disaster preparedness planning and in disaster prevention though activities that build a culture of prevention." Habitat Agenda, 1996 OVERVIEW The increasing occurrence of natural and human-caused disasters, including armed conflicts, is causing extensive loss of life, damage to property, and harm to the environment. In many instances, disasters have forced countries to postpone national development programmes and have contributed to worsening already precarious social, economic and environmental conditions, particularly in human settlements. The number and nature of armed conflicts has changed significantly in recent years. Today’s conflicts are mostly fought within state boundaries, whereas in the past wars took place across them. Wars are no longer fought only on battlefields between large armies, rather, they are often waged in cities and villages by amateur militia, driven by long-simmering ethnic and religious ideologies and fuelled by a struggle for political and economic control. As a result, more than 90 per cent of the victims of today’s wars are civilians and of those, women and children bear an inordinate burden. 20 million refugees are in need of protection and assistance right now. An additional 20 to 25 million people are currently displaced within their own countries as a result of violence and human rights abuses. In the last decade, more than 200 million people were affected annually by natural disasters – seven times more than those affected by conflict. Natural hazards become disasters when they impact the people and assets that are susceptible to their destructive effects and nowhere is this more significant than in the world’s cities, towns and villages. Factors such as inappropriate land use, poorly designed and constructed buildings and infrastructure, and an increasingly degraded environment put human settlements at risk. Although these hazards exist in both developed and developing countries, they often impact more severely and sometimes repeatedly in developing countries where the institutional capacity is lowest, leaving large populations of the poorest inhabitants chronically vulnerable. As both complex emergencies and natural disasters have become more frequent, intense and costly, the international community is performing an ever-widening range of relief and rehabilitation activities. This exacerbates the fundamental challenges of the crisis management and recovery processes; how to bridge the gaps that have repeatedly emerged between emergency relief and sustainable development efforts, and how to provide local government, civil society and business organizations with practical strategies for mitigating and recovering from conflicts and natural disasters. Disaster Management Programme (DMP) As the lead agency within the United Nations system for co-ordinating activities in the field of human settlements, UN-HABITAT is also the focal point for the implementation of the Habitat Agenda – the global plan of action adopted in June 1996 by the international community at the Habitat II Conference in Istanbul, Turkey. Its activities contribute to the overall objective of the United Nations system to reduce poverty and promote sustainable development within the context of a rapidly urbanizing world. Within the broader context of sustainable human settlements development, UN-HABITAT focuses much of its work on the two key themes of the Habitat Agenda – adequate shelter for all and urban governance. Through the two Global Campaigns on Secure Tenure and Urban Governance respectively, UN-HABITAT promotes concepts of inclusion, participation and sustainability in the human settlements context. These overarching issues are also reflected in the work of the Disaster Management Programme to support sustainable, people centred solutions in disaster management. UN-HABITAT is mandated through the Habitat Agenda to take the lead in disaster, mitigation, and post-disaster rehabilitation capabilities in human settlements. The Habitat Agenda clearly outlines the link between human settlements development and vulnerability to disasters. In addition, the need for coordination and close partnerships with national and local governments, as well as civil society is emphasized. Finally, the Habitat Agenda recognizes the particularly deleterious impact of disasters on women, and affirms the need for active involvement of women in disaster management. These steering principles underpin all normative and operational activities of the Disaster Management Programme. The Disaster Management Programme operates under the Disaster, Post-Conflict and Safety Section, Urban Development Branch, of UN-HABITAT. DMP was created to marshal the resources of UN-HABITAT and other international agencies to provide local government, civil society and the private sector with practical strategies for mitigating and recovering from conflicts and natural disasters in the context of human settlements. Specific areas of attention include: Protection and rehabilitation of housing, infrastructure and public facilities; Provision of technical and policy support to humanitarian agencies before and after crisis in the context of human settlements; Building partnerships and provision of complementary expertise in resettlement of displaced persons and refugees; Restoration of local social structures through settlement development; Rehabilitation of local government structures and empowerment of civil society; Land and settlements planning and management for disaster prevention.