2.2. Describing risk
Various methodologies and tools have been developed to assess the magnitude of risk, but since there are no commonly recognized and accepted criteria for this type of evaluation, the results that they yield often have discrepancies or are only partial, depending on the particular criteria used and the importance and values that are assigned to them. One system is based on indicators of disaster risk and disaster risk management. It employs a quantitative method to put a value on hazards, vulnerabilities, and risk, to help decision-makers to develop and propose effective risk management actions, taking macroeconomic, social, institutional, and technical realities into account.
Following the practice of first analyzing hazards and vulnerability (since risk is dependent on these two variables), the U.S. National Academy of Sciences has prepared a reference document that offers tools and methods for estimating populations at risk from natural disasters and complex humanitarian crises. Like hazards, risks can be represented on maps that present a scenario based on the vulnerability of the exposed elements.
Different methodologies are used to prepare risk maps. They range from simple methods whose principal objective is to develop a participatory approach (an example is the Guide for the preparation of a community risk map, prepared by the Colombian government, in Spanish only) to more complex guides such as the one prepared by UNEP: Assessing the vulnerability of local communities to disasters. Read more about community hazard mapping in Honduras. Regardless of their their complexity, these maps can be used to plan risk reduction measures, and are the basis for response plans.