Disaster management in Asia : lessons learned and policy implications

This chapter summarises the central themes explored in the book and discussed lessons and policy implications and recommendations to address issues associated with disaster governance. The main focus of this book is to present disaster risk management strategies based on case studies pertaining to South and Southeast Asia. Today's development activities can lead to the destruction of the environment; and thus, unbalanced development is considered as one of the main causes of natural disasters. Any government's decisions on development would certainly affect the country's environment. In this context, how to balance the socio-economic development and the environment is the main challenge faced by each and every government in the contemporary world. When designing public policies, each government has to identify how to allocate, utilise and share its limited natural resources to meet its people's needs and demands. In other words, when designing development programmes and projects with the infrastructure development, government and other groups of stakeholders cannot ignore the concern of the environment.