The use of science in humanitarian emergencies and disasters

This report is primarily focused on government, and changes to the way government plans and prepares for international humanitarian emergencies and disasters, including better use of science and knowledge. It discusses how global risk assessments can be used to inform policy makers, and describes several effective early warning systems for both rapid and slow onset disasters.

It also presents the UK Natural Hazards Partnership, which has been established to provide information, research and analysis on natural hazards for the development of more effective policies, communications and services for the government. One of the roles of the Partnership is to provide scientific and technical advice to the Cabinet Office on matters relating to natural hazard risks for the National Risk Assessment (NRA).

The report presents six recommendations to UK Government where immediate changes can be made to help and support the use and uptake of science for the benefit of disaster risk reduction.