International Red Cross calls for disaster reduction targets. (General).

OTTAWA -- The lives of 170 million people worldwide were affected by disasters last year, and unless those numbers are drastically reduced other international targets set for 2015--such as reducing world hunger and poverty by half--will not be met.

That is the prediction of this year's World Disasters Report, the 10th published by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. It calls for two disaster risk reduction targets to be added to the international development goals: reducing by one half the number of people killed and affected by disasters and increasing the number of governments with dedicated plans and resources for risk reduction programs.

The report was also critical of high-profile disaster relief campaigns because they are not aimed at long-term disaster mitigation. No international aid was needed when a hurricane hit Cuba last year, it says, because local mechanisms were in place to evacuate 700,000 people from Havana.

The report also pointed to other successful projects, even in impoverished communities such as Sri Lanka, Vietnam and Guatemala. 613-740-1928