When we think about places like Afghanistan, Yemen and Syria, the first thing that probably comes to mind is war. 70% of areas impacted by conflict are affected by disasters, and 30% of disasters trigged by natural hazards occur in countries affected by conflict.

Rod Mena joins the show today to discuss disaster risk reduction in some of the most challenging places on Earth. Rod Mena is Assistant Professor of Humanitarian Aid and Disaster Governance at the Institute of Social Studies (ISS) of Erasmus University Rotterdam.. He was raised in a firefighting family in Chile and has since lived and worked in some really challenging environments across the world – including South Sudan and Afghanistan. 

Josh and Andrew talk through the challenges of working in these environments, and discover that many of the principles applied to reducing disaster risk in conflict zones are lessons that can be applied in other parts of the world.