OVERVIEW
Populations throughout South Asia face a range of natural hazards, including earthquakes, cyclones, floods, landslides, droughts, and tsunamis. Demographic changes, rapid urbanization, environmental degradation, and climate change have increased people’s exposure to natural hazards, resulted in more frequent and severe natural disasters, and compounded the impact of civil conflicts and other complex emergencies. In addition, declining socio-economic conditions of some populations are increasing vulnerability to hazards in the region. Governments in South Asia are investing in DRR and improving their countries’ response capacities from the community to the national level, and USAID/OFDA is committed to assisting these nations to develop DRR and emergency response capacities.
In FY 2015, USAID/OFDA emphasized DRR activities in South Asia’s urban areas, particularly in cities that face seismic risks, and supported the development of publicprivate partnerships to reduce disaster risk. USAID/OFDA also enhanced existing DRR programs to build disaster early warning, response, and mitigation capacity from the national to the community level. USAID/OFDA provided approximately $26.8 million in FY 2015 for DRR projects throughout South Asia, including programs that integrate DRR with disaster response.