Attachments
This report covers the period 01/01/2013 to 31/12/2013
Overview
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) and National Societies have steadily increased the DRR programmes1 in terms of spending and number of people reached. In 2013, the total DRR spending by the IFRC and National Societies was approximately CHF 122.3 million, indicating that the DRR investment has almost doubled since 2009. The number of vulnerable people reached has increased from 13.5 million in 2009 to 25.6 million in 2013, an increase of 2.42 million people per year on average.
The “Roadmap to Resilience” process is progressing with the engagement of National Societies and zones. Progress has been made in the IFRC partnership with the Iranian Red Crescent Society and the Zurich Insurance Group for urban risk reduction and flood resilience. The Community Preparedness and Risk Reduction Department (CPRR) coordinated the IFRC participation in key global events including the Global Platform for DRR and CoP19.
2013 was a year of busy consultation for the post-2015 global frameworks for DRR, sustainable development and climate change; it also witnessed the increasing challenges and risks for the humanity.
Climate change poses formidable challenges to the humanitarian community. It increases disaster risk for millions of vulnerable people around the world and compromises people’s ability to sustain their sources of livelihood, especially in poor and under-developed countries. It also triggers events of unprecedented magnitude, rendering the current humanitarian response capacity ineffective, with dramatic consequences for those affected. Climate change and rapid urbanisation are amongst the most significant phenomena of the 21st century. Today more than half of the world’s population lives in cities, with an additional two billion urban residents expected in the next 20 years. Much of the population growth is expected in small and medium-sized cities in developing countries. Many cities and urban areas are at risk of hurricanes, cyclones, flooding, earthquakes and epidemics, as well as crime, fires and industrial accidents.
According to the FAO, between 2011-2013, there are almost 842 million people chronically undernourished. This represents 12 per cent of the world’s population or one in eight people. An estimated 52 million children under five years of age are believed to suffer from acute malnutrition, and 165 million children under the age of five or 26 per cent, are chronically malnourished. Food and nutrition insecurity has been reported as alarming in Syria, Philippines and others. According to IRIN, over the past two years the number of severely acutely malnourished children in the Sahel has risen, reaching 1.5 million in 2013. Combined with the number of under-fives and pregnant and lactating women who are moderately and acutely malnourished (or experiencing "wasting"), the number of malnourished in the region reaches 5 million. In Southern Africa food security concerns are reported in pockets of Malawi and Zimbabwe. The population in crisis or emergency in Greater Horn of Africa and Central Africa range from 16-19 million of which the number of DRC, Sudan and Ethiopia constituted 70% of the affected population. According to IFPRI`s latest report, countries in Eastern and Central Africa will face food insecurity in 2014 due to consequences of the changing climate.