Our Conflicts and Emergencies blog (EN)

Ben Murphy writes from the Global Platform, the disaster risk reduction summit and argues that urgent action is needed to transform the losing battle against risk.

Last week the UN revealed for the first time that more than a quarter of a million people died in Somalia over 18 months from October 2010-April 2012. These figures are shockingly high especially when you think about the fact that most of the deaths were probably preventable if the world had just reacted sooner to the warnings that were coming out of the region as the rains started to fail in 2010.

There are promises and promises, but we get nothing, Fatima, a refugee from Syria, told one of my colleagues in Lebanon last week. Her counterparts in Jordan where I was visiting tell a very similar story. They call for more aid for those who have fled Syria of course – but also for something to be done for the millions left behind in their country’s vicious conflict.