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A 'rapid' response to disasters, climate change

The Philippines is hit each year by several natural disasters — yet almost every time a typhoon or an earthquake strikes, the country seems ill-equipped to deal with the aftermath.

While it’s practically impossible to fully prepare for such a massive disaster as Typhoon Haiyan in late 2013, a newly expanded government program now aims to draw on lessons learned to lessen the risks and mitigate the impact of climate-related incidents in the country, one of the world’s most vulnerable to natural calamities and the effects of climate change.

“It’s more costly for the government to react [to disasters] than preparing for them. It is much better to invest and build back better, faster and safer,” Lesley Cordero, a top official with the Philippine government’s Haiyan rehabilitation office, said at the launch of the Resilience and Preparedness for Inclusive Development program by the Philippine Climate Change Commission.

RAPID is the latest step in global disaster risk reduction efforts since the so-called Tacloban Declaration published after the Asia-Europe meeting in Manila in June, which contains new provisions on DRR and is widely expected to compose the bulk of the post-2015 Sendai DRR framework to be finalized next year.

Disasters have disrupted social and economic development worldwide, making DRR a priority area of focus for the aid community. According to the World Bank, disasters have cost the world almost $4 trillion since 1980 — an amount that could have been earmarked for wider development programs.

That’s why a proactive program like RAPID can save time, money and lives in the long-run, according to Ewen McDonald, deputy secretary at the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, which now oversees the country’s aid program.

For the complete article, please see Devex.