Natural Disasters: The Aftermath And Core Relief Supplies

A natural disaster is described as any occurrence in nature that largely damages lives and the ecosystem, any occurrence over which mankind has no control whatsoever. Man cannot fight a natural disaster or its intensity, but due to certain advancements in science and technology, we can now predict the onset and intensity of natural disasters and consequently prepare ourselves to deal with it and in some cases, even guard ourselves altogether. Researches have shown that the incidence of all kinds of natural disasters has increased in the last few decades. Whereas in the 1970s, an average of 11 disasters or incidents might occur in every country, in the 2000s this figure rose to 28.

For example, in 2007, a tsunami took 227, 000 lives and displaced some 1.7 million people in South Asia. In response, people from all over the world donated to an aggregate of 13 billion dollars. In the aftermath of such a disaster, people are deprived of the most basic necessities of life and adequate equipment designed to cope with such a disaster. The natural question after this is that how can we then help people who have been affected by a natural disaster? Fortunately for us, the UNHCR is a commission that is solely dedicated to providing relief to the victims of disasters or unfortunate situations throughout the world. The functions of organizations like UNHCR are to identity relief needs and allot these 13 billion dollars correctly to all victims and rehabilitate them. Naturally, when victims lose everything, they also have to build their lives after it from scratch, thus the question of rehabilitation. They have a catalogue of 'core relief items'; items that are needed the most by victims of a disaster. The purpose of such relief organizations is to keep a stock of such items and then effectively and efficiently have them distributed to the people in need.

Core relief items include things like food, water, clothes and shelter items. This can include things such as tents, tarpaulins, fleece and thermal blankets, sleeping bags, kitchen utensils, tent repair kits and food items that will not perish and provide adequate nutrition. In another aspect, victims also need proper medical care and medicines. The next question is the question of standardization. All these items that have been verified and marked by the UNHCR as relief items are also subject to certain quality control and verification. For all these reasons, governments alone cannot provide all its citizens with adequate relief items and have them distributed effectively and therein comes the role of NGOs and private organizations that manufacture these items on their own and distribute them to lend a hand to the people in need. Besides UNHCR, private organizations such as NRS International and Alpinter work with relief supplies in times of disasters all over the globe. While these organizations are not non-profit, their philosophy is to provide affordable and reliable shelter and relief to victims of disasters. All such organizations are already stocked up on these items and focus on distribution.

Source : articlesbase.com