Building back better from the May 2016 floods and landslides

By Senel Wanniarachchi 

The floods and landslides which occurred in the island in May this year affected 22 of the 25 districts in the country. 

The latest reports point to over 90 deaths with 109 still declared missing. Some are still shaken up but many are already finding ways to rebuild their lives and livelihoods. Sri Lanka now has an opportunity to not just rebuild the infrastructure and communities to pre-disaster standards but to build back better. If we simply rebuild the communities we are only recreating the vulnerabilities that existed earlier and expose the very people that were most affected in May to devastation from any future hazards. 

As such, what is necessary now is not just to clear the rubble of flattened buildings and erect new ones, or to substitute the debris of destroyed roads with new roads and replace the destroyed fields with new crops but to make our infrastructure more resilient, to understand as to which areas are more vulnerable to hazards than others, which communities are most at risk from disaster impacts and study how our crops could be made more resistant to disaster impacts.

As such, the Ministry of Disaster Management and the Ministry of National Policies and Economic Affairs, with the support of the United Nations, the Work Bank and the European Union, are currently conducting what is called a Post-Disaster Needs Assessment or a PDNA. 

A PDNA is a consolidated assessment of loss and damage and the human impact of a disaster through a participatory process using tools that are internationally recognised. A team of international experts has already arrived in Sri Lanka to support the Government with the PDNA over the coming weeks. 

The exercise will equip us with a well-rounded view of the scale of the devastation, help us take stock of the damage, loss and needs, allow us to gain a better understanding of where we need to build our capacities and provide an outline recovery strategy to chart the course for reconstruction and rebuilding. 

The process will pay particular attention to understand how the most marginalised and vulnerable groups, including the poor, women, children, youth, the elderly and people with disabilities were affected to know if the disaster affected these communities differently or disproportionately. 

Once complete, the PDNA will be the channel through which international and national efforts of recovery and rebuilding will be aligned. As such, the assessment will provide the Government and other stakeholders with recommendations for short- and medium-term recovery strategies and help galvanise the international community’s and development partners’ support in mobilising resources. It will add shape to our vision for a more resilient Sri Lanka and pave the way for economic rejuvenation and sustainable, inclusive development. 

Disasters happen as a result of a multiplicity of reasons but the main factors that contribute to the increase of the risk posed by disasters are climate change, rapid urbanisation, poverty and environmental degradation. 

As an emerging economy, it’s important that we are able to balance the need for economic growth with a sustainable and inclusive approach. With cities growing larger, urban planning that will help these areas withstand the impact of natural disasters is key.

As predicted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Climate change will create new hazards, causing glaciers to melt, sea levels to rise, etc. and these effects amp up extreme weather events. Small island states like Sri Lanka are getting increasingly vulnerable. 

However, as the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction explains: “Hazards are natural. Disasters are not. There is nothing natural about a disaster. Nature provides hazards - earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, floods and so on - but humans help create the disaster.” 

We couldn’t have prevented the flood or the landslide which occurred this May but we could have mitigated the damage caused by them. This is why disaster risk reduction should be an integral part of everyday decision-making - from how schools and universities educate their students to how our cities are planned. 

Sri Lankans are a resilient people. We have proven time and again that we can bounce back from various challenges we are put through. The PDNA will help us to take a step back, get a bird’s eye view of the challenge ahead and help us to take a more coordinated and equitable approach to emerge stronger and build back better.

Senel is Sri Lanka’s Official Youth Delegate to the United Nations. He is a Senator in the Sri Lanka Youth Parliament and was a member of the International Youth Task Force that was appointed for the World Conference on Youth in Colombo. He is a Champion of the International Planned Parenthood Federation and was named a ‘Global Changemaker’ by the British Council. He was a member of the National Steering and Advisory Committee of the NHDR 2014. He is currently pursuing a degree in International Relations at the University of Colombo. Senel blogs at adahas, where he is trying to combine his passion for storytelling with his newfound love for social media. Follow him: @Senel_w.

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