Mitigating Disasters with the Poverty Stoplight

It is no coincidence that the United States has established September as National Preparedness Month. Turn on any news channel around the world in the past four weeks and you have surely been inundated with news of disaster: flooding across South-East Asia, catastrophic hurricanes in the Caribbean and United States, an earthquake of 8.1 magnitude, mudslides in Sierra Leone and wildfires across the US and Gulf of Mexico. It seems like every day, there is a new disaster to worry about. Firefighters wet down an area that was burned by a wildfire on Sunday (Sept. 3), along Interstate Highway 5 in Tacoma, Washington. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren).

In fact, disasters are occurring more frequently and producing more damage than ever before. With the overwhelming majority of scientists confirming climate change as a very real phenomenon and with increased evidence that humans are catalyzing these changes, vulnerability to risk is at an all-time high. Economic and corporate interdependence fuel risks even further. While no countries will be spared as natural disasters perpetuate, there are certain factors that can determine a country’s resilience to disaster: length of democratic rule, post-colonial regime form, urban scale, the extent of urban poverty and development . When these factors are not in balance, countries are particularly vulnerable to amplify their risk probabilities. Those countries with weak or declining economies and those with ineffective government are disproportionately affected during a time of disaster, and thus are pushed further into a vicious cycle of destitution. Just as a community reels from one disaster, they are soon forced to prepare for another.

Governments, in theory, are responsible for remedying the underlying risk drivers, but due to lack of finances, capacity or will, they are often inadequate in their preparation and relief efforts. By investing in infrastructure, abiding by environmental standards, and targeting risk before disaster strikes, governments could minimize and reduce impact. An equally important component of disaster mitigation is efforts from the private and third sector. As disaster-response actors (nonprofits, multilateral organizations, and private sector initiatives) look toward the future, it is essential that strategies are formed that encourage public participation and civil engagement.

The Poverty Stoplight is a tool that could revolutionize disaster preparedness across the world. As both a metric and a methodology, it has the potential to reshape how individuals live their daily lives while preparing for the future. Preparing for a disaster can take months of planning and due to the nature of most disasters, many are unexpected or strike without much notice. For this reason, having a plan of action and contingency plans for different situations can help mitigate risk. By taking the Poverty Stoplight survey, families are empowered to be introspective and proactive about their current realities. With the assistance of a field worker, families take a 20-minute survey to analyze their levels of poverty across 50 indicators. After analyzing the areas that they identify as priorities, families are connected with the resources they need to address gaps and needs. As families and individuals assess their current realities in regard to living in a safe, stable environment, their access to consistent transportation (regardless of the weather), their possession of insurance (health, home, flood), their access to news, their participation in social networks, their tendencies to save money and their ability make decisions, they will uncover for themselves just how prepared they would be in the event of an emergency.

Programs such as the Poverty Stoplight can help reframe disaster response, which is often innately reactive. As Poverty Stoplight Hubs identify a diverse network of partners with which to work, they should consider how their organization can incorporate this perspective into their mission. If you know of an organization focused on disaster preparation that you’d like to recommend as a potential Poverty Stoplight Hub, please let us know or have them contact us at info@povertystoplight.org