ActionAid and Spain's Ayuda en Acción  will present the World Conference on Disaster Reduction in Kobe, Japan, with an eight-point programme for putting people at the centre of global efforts to reduce disasters.

Poor people are far more likely than others to die or suffer in disasters. The two anti-poverty organisations say this must be understood as a failure of governance.

"Poor men, women and children do not have the power to influence decisions that would make them less vulnerable or  strengthen their resilience," said Roger Yates, ActionAid's head of emergencies and human security. "Those failures of governance that every day exclude poor people from national and international priorities also exclude them from measures which could protect them when disaster strikes."

ActionAid and Ayuda en Acción's eight-point programme is based on participation, accountability and justice. It confronts the realities of corruption, ineffective state institutions and weak political will. There are many examples of effective action by poor people facing hazards and disasters. In northern Ghana, communities have participated in the development of official emergency preparedness plans; as a result, the plans reflect the risks which poor people identified as their priorities. In India, a public interest litigation established new  legal rights to food and work for people affected by the 2001 drought.

The two organisations are calling for the Kobe delegates to adopt eight key policies for people-centred governance, as part of the conference outcome.

ActionAid and Ayuda en Acción's eight-point programme is based on participation, accountability and justice. It confronts the realities of corruption, ineffective state institutions and weak political will. There are many examples of effective action by poor people facing hazards and disasters. In northern Ghana, communities have participated in the development of official emergency preparedness plans; as a result, the plans reflect the risks which poor people identified as their priorities. In India, a public interest litigation established new  legal rights to food and work for people affected by the 2001 drought.

The two organisations are calling for the Kobe delegates to adopt eight key policies for people-centred governance, as part of the conference outcome.