| Disaster Mitigation and Recovery |
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We cannot prevent disasters happening but disaster mitigation to ensure rapid economic and social recovery is a major responsibility of governments throughout the world. Governments cannot do this alone and empowering businesses, communities and individuals to cope and lead disaster recovery through preparedness and planning is now seen as the most effective and sustainable way of dealing with our uncertain world. Mapping of rivers and coastlines to show the potential extent of possible flood events is now commonplace and making this information freely available to individual home owners, businesses and developers allows communities, rather than just governments, to assess their risk of being flooded. Appropriate infrastructure also remains an important part of the mitigation process through cost effective flood defence works and development that works with nature, not against it. But empowering the poor is more challenging, especially within fragile states where years of conflict or ineffective governance have left communities with little or no capacity to make choices about their wellbeing. These communities often live in the most disaster prone areas and in housing that offers no security against floods, hurricanes or earthquakes. Mitigation through infrastructure alone is rarely affordable. But whatever a country’s capacity to deal with disasters Gentek Consult can help governments, businesses, NGOs or communities to prepare for or, in the worst case scenario, deal with the consequences of a major disaster. Through our cross-cutting education and health skill base and our presence throughout the world we understand not only the technical issues but, more importantly, the cultural setting and national capacity to deal with nature’s worst and ensure a sustainable recovery. |
