Tearfund responds to South Asian Floods

Flooding is a yearly enemy to South Asian countries; it kills hundreds, displaces millions and forces entire populations to live like refugees during the monsoon months.

In response to the current floods in Bangladesh and India, Tearfund, a Christian relief and development agency has expressed that the "death and suffering would have been reduced if western governments' aid budgets put more emphasis on protecting vulnerable communities and preparing people to save their own lives."

The current floods in North India, Bangladesh and Nepal have been described as the worst floods in decades. It has already claimed 1000 lives and approximately 50 million still remain stranded or homeless.

According to Tearfund's recent research, it shows that among major donors, including the United Nations, the European Union and the governments of Britain, the United States and Canada, there is a general agreement that preventing disasters makes economic and moral sense. However the governments' approaches are still weighted towards 'Curing' rather than 'Preventing'.

"There was a time when we did not know where disasters would strike. But today we know which countries are most disaster-prone. Flooding in Bangladesh and India is hardly a surprise," said Marcus Oxley Tearfund Disaster Management Director.

"In the UK and Europe we spend vast sums on reducing the risks we face from disasters like floods, yet very little is spent on helping poor communities to do the same." Oxley continued.

Sarah La Trobe, Tearfund Policy Officer for the Environment and Disasters, said that money and expertise must be urgently directed into reducing the risks of disasters in places like India and Bangladesh in order to help the world's most vulnerable communities safeguard their lives and their way out of poverty.

"Britain and other western nations must adopt new thinking about how aid work is done. Focusing primarily on emergency responses like air drops of food is no longer enough. People can be equipped to save their own lives. It is indefensible and illogical not to help poor communities prevent and prepare for disasters when very often, thousands of lives could be saved by even the simplest of measures," she said.

In this current flood, many lives were saved in Bihar, India's poorest state because Tearfund partner, The Discipleship Centre (DC) has been working with local villagers to prepare them for the floods - by ensuring early warning systems are in place, raising embankments, buying boats, ensuring volunteers are trained to rescue villagers, and organising shelter camps and administering first aid.

Due to factors such as climate change, rapid urbanisation, poor land use and environmental destruction, natural disasters like the recent floods across South Asia are on the increase. It is suggested that long-term development in poor countries is being seriously threatened.

Tearfund believes that as well as life-saving emergency responses such as rescuing people from rooftops, providing emergency food, water and sanitation, western governments should make better use of aid by focusing less on 'bandaging wounds' and more on preventing disasters.