意大利南部San Arcangelo市滑坡研究

通过利用航片解译、现场调查和GIS分析,对意大利南部城市San Arcangelo市的滑坡进行了研究,对不同类型滑坡的机理、控制因素进行了分析.研究发现,不同类型滑坡的控制因素有一定差异,形成的环境因素也各不相同;宏观上讲,滑坡的形成在多数情况下是自然因素和人类活动共同作用的结果;滑坡灾害的防治除了采取有效的工程措施以外,人类生活和生产方式也要做出适当的调整,以减轻其对环境的负面影响.     

The self‐built ecovillage in L'Aquila,Italy: community resilience as a grassroots response to environmental shock

The paper applies the community resilience approach to the post‐disaster case of Pescomaggiore, an Italian village affected by the L'Aquila earthquake in 2009. A group of residents refused to accept the housing recovery solutions proposed by the government, opting for autonomous recovery. They developed a housing project in the form of a self‐built ecovillage, characterised by earthquake‐proof buildings made of straw and wood. The project is a paradigmatic example of a community‐based response to an external shock. It illustrates the concept of ‘community resilience’, which is widely explored in the scientific debate but still vaguely defined. Based on qualitative methodologies, the paper seeks to understand how the community resilience process can be enacted in alternative social practices such as ecovillages. The goal is to see under which conditions natural disasters can be considered windows of opportunity for sustainability.     

Desertification, refugees and regional conflict in west Africa

This article documents the potential for inter-state conflict in the migration of hundreds of thousands of famine refugees across international borders in West Africa. Nigeria and Ghana, for example, have to deal not only with the effects of land degradation in their northern territories but also with the influx of famine victims from Mali, Niger, Chad and Burkino Faso. These migrations put an enormous extra burden on the fragile and already overstretched social and economic infrastructures of the host countries. The construction of dams for irrigation and electricity generation in international river basins, is another cause of inter-state conflict related to land degradation. The capacity of West African states to find peaceful solutions to these problems is being undermined by the increasing impoverishment and marginalisation of their populations. A self-serving neo-colonialist governing elite is caught in the economic stranglehold of the advanced capitalist nations. While there is thus no short term solution to the problem of land degradation, immediate steps should at least be taken to give legal protection to those who are forced to cross international borders because of drought and famine.     

Health Effects of the 1991 Bangladesh Cyclone: Report of a UNICEF Evaluation Team

To assess the impact on health of the cyclone and tidal wave that struck the southern coast of Bangladesh on the evening of 29 April 1991, a team of health professionals visited cyclone affected areas from 4–27 June, 1991. Team members met with health workers and officials of the Government of Bangladesh and with staff pom nongovernmental organizations, and conducted field surveys in two severely affected areas.
Mortality among the 135 households surveyed (pre-cyclone population 1,123) was 14 per cent. At highest risk of deaths were children of less than 10 years (26 per cent mortality) and women of more than 40 (31 per cent mortality). Almost all deaths occurred as a result of drowning from the tidal wave that accompanied the cyclone. Although 95 per cent of the population surveyed had received warning of the cyclone four or more hours before it struck, the 300 existing cyclone shelters had capacity for only 450,000 of the 5,000,000 people affected by the cyclone. Deaths following the cyclone were few. Diarrhea caused by Vibrio cholerae and Shigella dysenteria type 1, both of which are endemic in Bangladesh, occurred in the post-cyclone period. Reports by the national Diarrhea Surveillance System of large increases in diarrheal incidence following the cyclone were difficult to assess because of inconsistencies in pre-and post-cyclone reporting methods. No increase in other infectious diseases was identified.
Although water availability had been a major concern following the cyclone, the tubewell system was functioning well in the area that was surveyed. Distribution of relief assistance by the Government of Bangladesh and by non-governmental organizations was good, with 95 per cent of families surveyed receiving food aid within five days of the cyclone.
The major health effect of this cyclone was acute deaths due to drowning. Preventing deaths during future cyclones will require increasing accessible shelter.     

Chaos, order and world view: tibetan refugees in Switzerland

This article is about culturally specific responses to extreme events. The concept of social chaos and some criteria for distinguishing this concept are discussed. Social chaos refers to an extreme situation in which neither the rules of normal behaviour nor those for coping with unexpected problems apply. It is suggested that the concept of world view may be an asset in the study of social chaos. The case of Tibetan refugees in Switzerland is presented to show how the ability of a society to survive a disaster is related to the specific outlook on the world shared by members of that society. Finally, it is asked whether it would be possible to account for a society's response to disasters, on the basis of socio-cultural factors.     

Impact of a commercial destocking relief intervention in Moyale district, southern Ethiopia

A commercial destocking intervention was piloted in southern Ethiopia during the drought of early 2006. The intervention led to the purchase of an estimated 20,000 cattle valued at USD 1.01 million. On average, destocked households received USD 186 from the sale of cattle--approximately 5,405 households were involved. In terms of aid investment, the approximate cost-benefit ratio was 41:1. During the drought, income from destocking accounted for 54.2 per cent of household income (n = 114 households), and was used to buy food, care for livestock, meet various domestic expenses, support relatives, and either pay off debts or augment savings. Seventy-nine per cent of the income derived from destocking was used to buy local goods or services. Expenditure on livestock care amounted to 36.5 per cent of local spending, and included the private transportation of livestock to better grazing areas. The buoyant livestock export trade was considered to be an important driver of commercial destocking, demonstrating a positive link between livestock and meat exports, and pastoral vulnerability during drought.     

Between international donors and local faith communities: Intermediaries in humanitarian assistance to Syrian refugees in Jordan and Lebanon

This paper explores the crucial part that faith‐based organisations (FBOs) play in acting as intermediaries between international donors and local faith communities (LFCs) implementing humanitarian relief projects for Syrian refugees. Humanitarian responses to the mounting Syrian refugee crisis have coincided with greater collaboration between international donors and LFCs. This cooperation often is facilitated by a complex web of non‐state intermediaries at the international, national, and local level. This study probes the breadth of roles of these intermediaries, drawing on primary data from case studies of two Christian intermediaries supporting Christian LFCs as they deliver aid primarily to Muslim Syrian refugees in Jordan and Lebanon. The results of the study are connected to the wider literature on LFCs in humanitarian response, revealing how intermediaries address issues of accountability, capacity‐building, impartiality, neutrality, and professionalism. The paper concludes by offering suggestions for further research on intermediaries as key actors in the localisation of humanitarian assistance.     

Food aid and development in southern Sudan: implications of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement for response planning

In the post-Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) era a greater impact on the unacceptably high prevalence of child malnutrition is more likely to come from additional investment and attention to education, health, hygiene, sanitation and childcare practices than from expanded food aid interventions. The negligible impact of food aid on malnutrition, although most commonly challenged on the quality of needs assessments, is equally attributable to the timing of deliveries, and a dysfunctional distribution system. Comparatively few resources have been allocated to strengthen skills for assessing, analysing and understanding community priorities, local economies, and social safety nets. A more thoughtful allocation of scarce funds could have more impact if a range of alternative responses was considered. Participation in and commitment to a more independent livelihoods analytical forum would improve communication with the new government, local leaders and other partners, as well as providing a platform for reaching consensus on both humanitarian and development planning over the next five years.     

Educational,psychosocial, and protection outcomes of child‐ and youth‐focused programming with Somali refugees in Dollo Ado,Ethiopia

Child‐ and youth‐friendly spaces have become a common feature of emergency humanitarian provision. This study reports on the outcomes of child and youth learning centres (CYLCs) in Ethiopia's Buramino Camp established for those fleeing conflict in Somalia. Eighty‐five youths completed baseline assessments shortly after arrival and follow‐up assessments three to six months later. Caregivers of 106 younger children completed similar appraisals. 693 children attending the CYLCs completed pre‐ and post‐educational assessments, which indicated major gains—significant at p<0.0001—in both literacy (younger children, t=9.06; youth, t=13.87) and numeracy (younger children, t=13.94; youths, t=17.10). Children's CYLC attendance increased reports of met needs among caregivers (t=2.53, p<0.05) and youths (t=2.57, p<0.05), and, among caregivers but not youths, significantly moderated protection concerns (t=2.39, p<0.05, and t=?1.90, p=0.06, respectively). There was general improvement in psychosocial well‐being over time for all children; CYLC attendance predicted greater reductions in reported difficulties only among younger children (t=2.51, p<0.05).     

A general assessment of the environmental impact of refugees in Somalia with attention to the refugee agricultural programme

This paper attempts to examine the broad features of Somalia's harsh physical environment into which several hundreds of thousands of refugees, with mainly a nomadic or semi-nomadic life style and culture, dramatically descended six years ago. The thirty-six rural camps in which at least half of them live are described as is the refugee agricultural programme which is training several thousand families so that they may be "self-supporting." The four regions where the camps are located are each briefly summarized in terms of their soils, their climates, their natural vegetation, and the type of agriculture which the refugee farmers practice. A more detailed analysis is then given on the following critical environmental concerns: Vegetation and erosion on refugee farms, the growing problem of refugee livestock, the destruction of trees, and irrigation practices and salinity on refugee farms. The paper concludes with an argument to preserve Somalia's environment from careless and destructive exploitation, which is leading towards desertification, and calls for an in-depth study of the situation.     

Risk communication in emergency response to a simulated extreme flood

Risk communication in flood incident management can be improved through developing hydrometeorological and engineering models used as tools for communicating risk between scientists and emergency management professionals. A range of such models and tools was evaluated by participating flood emergency managers during a 4-day, real-time simulation of an extreme event in the Thamesmead area in the Thames estuary close to London, England. Emergency managers have different communication needs and value new tools differently, but the indications are that a range of new tools could be beneficial in flood incident management. Provided they are communicated large model uncertainties are not necessarily unwelcome among flood emergency managers. Even so they are cautious about sharing the ownership of weather and flood modelling uncertainties.     

Repatriation of 150,000 sudanese refugees from ethiopia: the manipulation of civilians in a situation of civil conflict

This paper outlines the dramatic return to Sudan of 150,000 men, women and children from Itang Refugee Camp in Ethiopia in June 1991. These people were pawns in Sudan's civil war, manipulated by governments, military forces and the media – a state of affairs that the international community failed to deal with effectively. At the time of the return to Sudan, ICRC and the United Nations were working to assist the returnees in two different areas and each had a different access agreement and thus a different impact on the survival of the returnees. The paper focuses on the role of political awareness and negotiation in the protection of refugees and in the organisation of relief in the context of a civil war.     

Predictors for people's response to a tornado warning: Arkansas, 1 March 1997

On 1 March 1997, powerful tornadoes touched down in Arkansas (USA) on a Saturday afternoon. Twenty-six fatalities and 400 non-fatal injuries were reported. We performed a population-based cross-sectional study to determine factors associated with appropriate responses to tornado warnings. Of 146 survey participants, 140 (96 per cent) knew the difference between 'tornado watch' and 'tornado warning' and were aware of when the warning was announced. Of those 140 participants, 64 (45.7 per cent) responded to the warning by seeking shelter, and 58 (90.6 per cent) of those 64 acted within five minutes of hearing the warning. Four factors were positively associated with those seeking shelter: having graduated from high school (OR = 4.2, 95 per cent CI = 1.1-15.5); having a basement in one's house (OR = 3.8, 95 per cent exact CI = 1.1-17.1); hearing a siren (OR = 4.4, 95 per cent CI = 1.3-18.9); and having prepared a household plan of response when tornadoes occur (OR = 2.6, 95 per cent CI = 1.1-6.3). On the basis of these findings, we recommend: first, that people who live in tornadoprone areas have a personal plan of action to help them respond immediately to warnings; second, public-health education officials in areas with frequent tornadic activity should do more to educate the public about what they can do to protect themselves from a tornado; and third, that emergency-management officials planning protection measures for vulnerable communities should consider that most people have limited time (our study documented five minutes) in which to respond to a tornado warning. Thus, shelters in tornado-prone areas should be quickly accessible by residents.