What does culture have to do with the way people relate to disasters?

Watch a short animated summary of the 2014 World Disasters Report.

The first of the questions above refers to the 2008 flood of the River Kosi in India; the second to the 2010 eruption of Mount Merapi in Central Java, Indonesia. But those are not the only examples provided by the Report.

After the 2004 tsunami in Aceh, Indonesia, many believed that it was a form of divine retribution (or punishment) linked to tourism or oil drilling. In 2005, during Hurricane Katrina, some people in the US believed it showed God’s displeasure with some of the behaviours of the people who live in or visit New Orleans.

The current Ebola outbreak in West Africa indicates that misperceptions and cultural beliefs may impact negatively on efforts to stop the deadly disease.

According to the Report, disaster risk reduction and recovery projects are less effective if they fail to take into account how culture affects the way people relate to risk. And yet, culture is not usually a central consideration in disaster risk reduction efforts.

Therefore, the Report advocates a new approach that takes into account how people and institutions think, behave and act in relation to risk.

“We will have poorly sustained impact if we don’t adequately take into account people’s cultures, beliefs and attitudes in relation to risk, and if we don’t build on local knowledge,” said Elhadj As Sy, IFRC Secretary General.

The Report also features its annual summary of disaster information. Nearly 100 million people were affected by disasters in 2013, of whom 87% live in Asia. Floods remain the most frequent natural hazard, followed by storms. In total, natural hazards caused losses estimated at 118.6 billion US dollars in 2013, the fourth-lowest of the decade.