Adequate Housing and Disaster Risk Reduction

The effects of climate change are manifested globally, through the increase in the risk of natural disasters and their impact upon human life. In LAC the risks caused by climatic changes are of particular importance, especially in the Caribbean sub region as well as in those countries with higher levels of poverty, such as Haiti, in the Caribbean; Nicaragua, Honduras and El Salvador in Central America; Bolivia, Peru and Colombia in South America.  Cities represent a higher concentration of the vulnerability given their population density and diversity, as well as the impact imposed on their infrastructure, basic services and their community organization once they are faced with a disaster.  It is in this context that slums and informal settlements are even more vulnerable due to their location, insecurity of tenure, higher levels of density and types of construction without proper technical assistance, among others.  Access to proper housing, also considered as the settlement, its location and level of development, thus represents a critical component in building resilience for vulnerable communities.