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End “quick-fix thinking” on catastrophes, says disaster chief

End “quick-fix thinking” on catastrophes, says disaster chief

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Failing to protect against catastrophes is putting an unnecessary brake on development, the head of UN disaster risk reduction agency (UNISDR) said Monday.

As Margareta Wahlstrom heads into a key conference on sustainable finance in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, one of her key messages is that more countries need to make planning for disaster an integral part of their development programmes.

Too many states rely on “quick-fixes” to problems and short-term thinking that leaves them more vulnerable than they need be when disaster hits, as Ms Wahlstrom explained to Daniel Johnson.

Duration:  3’38”

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UNISDR