Disaster mortality

This note provides information relevant to the agreement of target (i) of the draft Post-2015 Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR), which reads: Reduce disaster mortality per capita by 2030 and its variants.

Disaster mortality refers usually to the number of confirmed dead or those found missing and presumed dead as part of the disaster and after the impact of a disaster event. Deaths as a result of disasters are a common proxy for the severity of an event. As such, they are a lever for humanitarian aid and for resource allocation during emergencies.

This note was produced as part of a series of briefings to give those without expert knowledge on DRR the key facts relating to the areas under negotiation at the World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction (WCDRR). The conference was held in Sendai, Japan, 14-18 March 2015, the outcome of which was the 'Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030'.