Disasters have always co-existed with civilizations. With technological advancement, development initiatives resulted in the creation of a lot of infrastructure and permanent assets.
Gradually material development detached man from nature on one hand, and increased vulnerability of the human population, on the other. The progressive increase in loss of life, property and deleterious effect on environment due to disasters moved the international community to look at
disaster management in a new perspective, which transcends international barriers, anticipates
possible threats and enables tackling of disasters from the pre-stage. The last decade (990-1999) was observed by the International Community as the “International Decade for natural
disaster reduction“, a decade dedicated to promoting solutions to reduce risks from natural hazards. The international dimension of disasters was realized and a protocol sought to be established so that when it comes to suffering of humanity, help from the International
community flow in right earnest.