| Overview : In 2015 the world adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable development, the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (SFDRR) and Paris Agreement on Climate Change of which Malawi is a signatory. The SFDRR notes that over the past decade, more than 700,000 women, men and children lost their lives, over 1.4 million people were injured and approximately 23 million people are homeless as a result of disasters globally. Malawi is also experiencing increasing cases of disasters; with disasters that happened between 2000 and 2016 surpassing disasters that happened between 1970 and 2000. Between 2015 and 2018, Malawi experienced one of the worst humanitarian crises necessitating declaration of two consecutive state of national disasters, with the crisis of 20115/16 affecting almost one third of the population. Malawi is also experiencing increasing cases of urban vulnerabilities in the recent past and there is need to provide for risk informed planning in urban areas. Projections for the assessments of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change indicate that the impact of climate change will continue to disrupt economies and the lives of people, with extreme weather events becoming more frequent and devastating, thereby reversing development gains. A post disaster needs assessment that was conducted in 2015rainfall season in Malawi, estimated the total cost of damage and losses from flooding at $494 million, representing 5% of the gross domestic product (GDP). |
