Asia and the Pacific is the most disaster prone region in the world. According to the latest report by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), during the past decade the region was struck by 1,625 disasters—over 40 per cent of the global total – and half a million people lost their lives. More than 1.4 billion people were affected by these natural disasters, constituting 80 per cent of those affected globally.
