‘Not enough is spent on prevention. Disasters have a huge impact on development, and this challenge will increase as the impact of climate change becomes more widely felt.’ Hilary Benn, UK secretary of state for international development, December 2004 Disaster after disaster hit the globe this year as we watched a procession of tragic news stories on our television screens. The Boxing Day tsunami killed nearly 250,000 people and left more than a million homeless. There were serious floods in China, India, Central America and parts of Europe. In Niger, 2.4 million people faced famine, while Malawi suffered a serious drought and food shortages. Hurricane Katrina in the United States reminded us that nowhere is immune from natural disasters. This year’s earthquake in Pakistan killed more than 86,000 people and left 3.3 million homeless.
