Introduction

Abstract

Human development throughout the world confronts many uncertainties in everyday life. It also faces serious challenges from infrequent, extreme events, both natural and man-made (UNDP, Putting resilience at the heart of development: investing in prevention and resilient recovery. United Nations, New York, 2012). Those living in developing countries are relatively less able to prevent these crises, less able to withstand them, and less able to rebound. These groups have relatively fewer resources and lower levels of resilience capacities. They are therefore also less able to manage their remaining scarce resources effectively during recovery and less able to rebuild rapidly if at all. The bottom income strata are especially vulnerable, as they tend to live disproportionately in low-lying areas subject to riverine or coastal flooding, along mountain slopes prone to landslides, in dilapidated housing in earthquake fault zones, and near industrial sites that generate toxic pollutants. Many developing countries also have unstable governments that make some form of persistent armed conflict relatively more prevalent.