Background
Disasters affect the development all around the world and this makes disaster management one of the most important topics of the governments all over the globe. Between 2002 and 2011, 
there were 4.309 disasters recorded, resulting from natural hazards around the world where 1.124.854 people perished and a minimum of 1.313 billion USD was recorded in losses. In the year 2011 alone, 365 disasters claimed 33.760 lives; affected 206 million people and inflicted damages worth an estimated 366 billion USD.
In order to manage the disasters effectively at all phases from disaster risk reduction to recovery, the direct, indirect and secondary effects of the disasters should be assessed in detail. All these effects are directly related to the economic growth of the affected country, mostly as an economic loss in the short run and rarely as an economic gain opportunity in the long run.
On the other hand, there is a wide range of funds and financial resources that the stakeholders can benefit from during the disaster management process especially for disaster reduction projects and disaster relief operations. Furthermore, the disaster insurance that bears the cost of losses and damage caused by the disasters can/would have an important economic effect for the country in the recovery period.
Seminar Objectives
The Symposium was hosted by Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency of Republic of Turkey (AFAD) and was organized in cooperation with Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) and Disaster Preparedness and Prevention Initiative for South Eastern Europe (DPPI SEE).
In this symposium, in order to form an economic view of disasters, all the following issues were covered: economic effects of disasters, sustainable development, pre-disaster finance, disaster insurance and financial resources for disaster management.
The symposium aimed to:
- Inform the participants about the economic effects of disasters and the relationship between disasters and sustainable development.
- Raise the awareness about the importance of pre-disaster finance especially the disaster insurance.
- Enlightened the participants about the financial resources for disaster management and emergency relief.
- Provide the participants with an opportunity to come together to create a network, to share experience, exchange know-how and learn different implementation methods.
Target Audience and Methodology
An international arena was created with participation of disaster management and finance experts and economists from 20 countries and Turkey as a bridge country between Europe and Asia. Academicians, representatives of UNDP, UNISDR, UN OCHA, Swiss Re, Turkish DASK, World Bank, Islamic Development Bank, European Union, public sector, private sector and NGO’s were invited as lecturers. Also, the representatives of other regional organizations were invited as observers.
Language
The language of the symposium was English and no translation was provided. Working documents and handouts were also distributed in English.
About the Co-organizer
Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) is an intergovernmental regional organization established in 1985 by Iran, Pakistan and Turkey for the purpose of promoting economic, technical and cultural cooperation among the Member States.
In 1992, the Organization was expanded to include seven new members, namely: Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, Republic of Azerbaijan, Republic of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Republic of Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Republic of Uzbekistan.
Over the past 12 years the member states have been collaborating to accelerate the pace of regional development through their common endeavors. ECO has embarked on several projects in priority sectors of its cooperation including energy, trade, transportation, and agriculture and drug control.
Under the Directorate of Human Resources & Sustainable Development, the natural disaster management issue is covered.
Presentations:
- Emerging definitions and perspectives from practices NATURAL DISASTERS Economics and Development
- Economic Effects of Disasters
- New approaches to disaster risk financing: the role of insurance
- Disaster economics and governance of risks: investing today for a safer tomorrow
- Catastrophes and Insurance Lessons, Challanges and Trends
- The World Bank’s Disaster Risk Management Policy Building a Safe and Resilient Future for All
- INTERNATIONAL ECO SYMPOSIUM ON DISASTER ECONOMICS 3-5 April 2013
- Business Disaster and CSR april 2013
- Development and Recovering From Disaster
- The Economics of “Natural” Disasters
- EU's Financial Support for Disaster Management and Preparedness
- JICA’s direction and challenge on Disaster Risk Management
- Disaster Recovery Planning as a Means to Resilient Development
- Financial resources for disaster relief operations
