Expanding Assistance for National Preparedness and Prevention Programs

Abstract

The concepts of disaster preparedness and prevention have come to be regarded as the purview of a small group of “experts” in the relief establishment. Stephen Green argues forcefully that if the present situation is ever to change, that is, if the economic impact of natural disasters upon the least developed among the developing countries is ever to be limited, disaster preparedness must become a priority for development planners. Preparedness here is conceived in short-run, organizational, and technical terms and clearly distinguished from prevention, which encompasses long-term, scientific and technical measures that may require educating or retraining a much larger portion of a society. The object, as Mr. Green makes clear, is not to look for a “technical fix” that will cure the world of disasters, but rather to make available to those governments that most need them the resources necessary to establish themselves as an effective and responsible authority in the areas under their control.