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Informal settlements often face poor housing quality, inadequate drainage, and limited access to basic services. These factors increase their vulnerability to flooding. By improving these settlements, governments can reduce disaster risk while also enhancing long-term living conditions.
This is important because marginalized populations often live in the highest-risk areas. Investments in resilient housing, sanitation, and drainage systems directly reduce both flood damage and post-disaster health crises.
How to Put This Into Practice
Upgrade drainage networks to prevent localized flooding.
Support resilient housing design with affordable materials.
Provide secure land tenure to encourage household investment in improvements.
Expand basic services such as water, sanitation, and electricity.
Example
In Medellín, Colombia, the government launched a program to upgrade informal settlements with improved drainage and hillside stabilization. This reduced both flood risk and landslides, while strengthening community resilience.