Disaster risk reduction: 20 examples of good practices from Central Asia

Success stories collected and presented here are just few examples of the sustained efforts taken by communities, governments, other organizations, and individual beneficiaries.
Readers will have noticed that this short booklet did not try to impress them with the amount of money allocated and spent in each project. In this particular case - in the area of disaster prevention, mitigation, and preparedness a single human life is so precious no money can be put on the scale. What is more important is the revival of individual and local initiative. It is no secret that fifteen years of continued international humanitarian aid created a certain dependency and, to some extent, “killed” the desire to bear individual responsibility. On the other hand, fifteen years was time sufficient for the people to understand that no external “do-gooder” can resolve their long-term problems. Hence, there is a growing initiative at all levels. However “low-scale” and “small-impact” some of the successful interventions may seem, they have a positive snow-ball effect. Some can be easily replicated in other areas and countries, while others may inspire governments and communities to find other local solutions to local problems. Again, nothing new is in the repeated appeal to invest more efforts, time and resources in preventive and mitigation techniques. Outcomes will not take long.