I. INTRODUCTION
1. The social, economic and environmental costs of natural
disasters, especially floods and drought in Asia and the
Pacific, are on the rise. Touching all aspects of life and
livelihoods, disasters exacerbate poverty, widen disparity
and derail sustainable development processes. Technologically,
the advances in early warning capabilities and other disaster
management tools have made a dent in terms of reducing the
losses. On the policy front, disaster management has attracted
considerable attention. Collectively, international agencies,
national governments and non-governmental organizations
(NGOs) have been placing the focus on proactive disaster
management efforts, so the countries with enabling policies
and institutional infrastructures have benefited from these
developments. The developing countries of the region, however,
characterized by (a) extremes of hydrometeorological regimes,
(b) demographic patterns driven by the livelihood compulsions
of poor to live in hazardous terrain and (c) constrained
resources and a weak institutional base, continue to live
with increasingly vulnerability and risks, emanating from
the recurrent floods and drought.
2. Information holds the key for managing floods and drought.
Timely and appropriate information provides tangible benefits
in terms of (a) minimizing the losses and reducing vulnerability,
(b) serving as a commodity for the public good, especially
weather information, and (c) providing the backbone for
contextual knowledge and wisdom. A comprehensive approach
to disaster management involves four basic phases: mitigation,
preparedness, response and recovery. Information gathered
during one phase is often valuable when put to use in the
other phases. Such interrelationships necessitate not only
comprehensive information support that is timely and precise,
but also the appropriate institutional frameworks ensuring
generation or collection of information from the diverse
sectors of development at various levels, their use and
proper integration into decision-making processes.
3. Capturing the dynamics and dangers of floods and drought
is a challenging task. The inherent complexities cause critical
gaps between the information needs of stakeholders at various
levels and the ability of national systems to meet them.
Space technologies, which can address these gaps, hold considerable
significance, but only if they are used operationally and
integrated with disaster management systems. The integration
of space technologies depends on the ability of individual
nations, especially in terms of enabling institutional infrastructures
and governmental policies. With this backdrop, the present
study aims at (a) understanding the “dynamic equilibrium”
involving the information needs of stakeholders, national
capabilities and space systems, (b) identifying the “missing
links” and (c) examining the feasibility of addressing these
in the framework of ESCAP mandates and priorities.
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