Next week in Sendai City, Japan, representatives from countries all over the world and the United Nations community will gather for a crucial World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction to assess and review the gains made towards achieving the Hyogo Framework for Action’s (HFA) goals the world leaders committed to in Kobe, the capital of Japan’s Hyogo ten years ago.

The Sendai conference comes at a time when Kenya is grappling with some of the worst disasters, with serious social, economic, and environmental consequences. The last decade was marked by some of the worst natural and man-made disasters on record in the country.

More than 3.5 million Kenyans were acutely affected during the 2010 to 2011 drought crisis that hit the Horn of Africa, which was said to be the worst in 60 years.

Floods and landslides killed a substantial number of people in the lowlands and highlands.

Disease outbreaks have endlessly claimed lives with wild poliovirus Type 1, Rift Valley Fever and cholera manifesting prominently.

The announcement by Devolution Cabinet Secretary Anne Waiguru that more than 1.6 million Kenyans needed immediate humanitarian assistance in the arid counties of Wajir, Mandera, Garissa, Isiolo, Turkana, and parts of Tana River, Baringo and West Pokot is an indication that we have not lived up to the HFA’s ultimate objective of reducing hazard risk and losses and a wakeup call that we need to scale up disaster risk reduction interventions.

The latest early warning information further suggests that the situation in the affected counties is likely to deteriorate into emergency status if nothing is done to alleviate the situation.

From existing statistics, the number of disaster-related deaths was far too high in the last decade, a stark reminder of the need for robust disaster management instruments in Kenya.

There is no doubt that action is urgently needed to address the drivers of disaster such as chronic poverty, weak governance and policy institution structures, inadequate security , and lack of financial resources for climate change mitigation.

This is why the Sendai conference is crucial.

It will be an opportunity to put pressure on disaster-affected countries, like Kenya, to come forward with their own targets to scale up their efforts to cope with the risks posed by global warming, environmental degradation, uncontrolled urbanisation and rapid population growth.

The conference also provides an opportunity for delegates to discuss disaster finance to the most vulnerable and high risk countries.

If an agreement is reached by the world leaders, a revised HFA will be adopted, composed of a number of measures designed to strengthen resilience in lives and social, economic, and environmental assets of communities and countries.

The Kenyan Government’s delegation to the conference should use the opportunity to learn how countries like China have managed to keep economic losses from disasters within the 1.45 per cent of GDP target over the last three years.

If the country is to succeed in reducing disaster-related deaths, it must be ready to learn from neighbouring countries like Ethiopia, which has developed a high-tech data management system to help guide its efforts to address not only drought, but also other natural hazards.

Lessons from Asia, where 80 per cent of the world’s disasters are concentrated are worth emulating, because the number of people directly affected has dropped over the last two decades, by almost one billion, owing to measures like the Indian Ocean tsunami early-warning system.

Likewise, the European Union estimates that €1 (Sh104) that is spent on flood protection brings €6 (Sh624) in savings.

Countries like Turkey and many others have incorporated the study of disaster risks into their school curriculum from the early stages.

That notwithstanding, what will be critical is a commitment from the Government to strengthen institutions like the National Drought Management Authority, which are charged with ending drought emergencies in the country by 2022, according to the second medium-term plan for Vision 2030.

In the absence of a comprehensive disaster management policy, real progress towards a safer, more sustainable and resilient future will remain a mirage.