World Disasters Report 2012 - Global Launch @EDD12
16-10-2012 Press ReleaseNew Red Cross Red Crescent Report:
Over 72 million forcibly displaced globally.
Over 72 million people, more than one in every hundred of the world’s citizens, are now forcibly displaced, says a new report released today by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC). The Report launch in Brussels Tuesday afternoon during the European Development Days features a panel debate on the outcomes with high level speakers from the European Commission, the UN High Commissioner on Refugees, the Indonesian Red Cross Society, the Kenya Red Cross Society, the University of Oxford and IFRC.
The World Disasters Report 2012 addresses different displacement situations, such as conflict, natural hazards and development. "The Report highlights the way in which the increasing complexity and unpredictability of violence and conflict are making refugees and IDPs much more vulnerable,” says Roger Zetter, Professor Emeritus in Refugee Studies and the Report’s Editor.
The Report notes that the growing resistance of politicians and their citizens to supporting people who have been forced to flee their homes is perhaps the main impediment to providing better humanitarian and longer-term support to these highly vulnerable populations.
Bekele Geleta, Secretary General of the IFRC, says the Report provides "practical backing” for the Red Cross Red Crescent’s ongoing call for governments to ensure that migrants, irrespective of their legal status, have access to the support that they need and that they are treated at all times with respect and dignity. "Last November, at our International Conference, 164 governments agreed to this principle and indeed passed a resolution.” said Geleta. "Governments need to adopt new policies and strategies that recognize the rights of migrants and that help them become productive members of communities, and not social pariahs.”
Jeff Crisp, Head of Policy Development and Evaluation, UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) says, "The last three years have witnessed a succession of major refugee movements, the result of conflicts in countries such as Cote d’Ivoire, Kyrgyzstan, Mali, Somalia, Sudan and Syria. How can the international community respond more effectively to these disasters?”
TheWorld Disasters Report is in its 20thissue and over the past two decades has covered topics such as ethics in aid, neglected crises, public health, HIV and AIDS and urban risk.
Panelists
Speakers at the Policy and Media Event in Brussels will include: Kristalina Georgieva, Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response, European Commission; Matthias Schmale, Under Secretary General for National Societies and Knowledge Development, IFRC; Budi Atmadi Adiputro, Secretary General, Indonesian Red Cross Society; Asha Mohammed,Deputy Secretary General,Kenya Red Cross Society; Professor Roger Zetter, Professor Emeritus, Editor of the World Disasters Report 2012, University of Oxford; Jeff Crisp, Head of Policy Development and Evaluation, UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
Photo 1: Commissioner Georgieva asking humanitarian workers to raise their hand. Aside: Budi Atmadi Adiputro, Secretary General, Indonesian Red Cross Society; Asha Mohammed,Deputy Secretary General,Kenya Red Cross Society (Photo: European Commission).
Photo 2: Jeff Crisp, Head of Policy Development and Evaluation, UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), questioning; "Can the humanitarian community cope?"
2011 disaster data: Fewer disasters but more costly
The Report also features its annual summary of disaster information. 2011 was the most expensive of the past decade in terms of disaster costs, but it also featured the fewest disasters across the same period.
In all, 336 disaster events cost countries 365.5 billion US dollars. More than half of these costs were registered in Japan where the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami caused 210 billion US dollars in damages.
For more information, to attend the debate, or to set up interviews, please contact:
In Brussels:
·Virginie Louis, Communications Officer, Red Cross/ EU Office, e-mail: Tel.:
+32 (0)2 235.06.83 – Mobile: +32 495 511 577 – E-mail: virginie.louis@redcrooss-eu.net
In Geneva:
·Jessica Sallabank, senior media officer, IFRC
Tel.:+41 (0)22 730 4620 – Mobile: +41 79 948 11 48 – E-mail: jessica.sallabank@ifrc.org
