Conclusions: addressing all the vulnerabilities

At the beginning of this book we defined ‘practitioner’ broadly. If we have been successful, the person holding this book might work in a government ministry or department, as a field coordinator for a humanitarian organisation, or in a role such as a volunteer, a campaigner or lobbyist. It is also likely that you do not have ‘disaster risk reduction’ or ‘disaster management’ specifically spelled out in your job description. So we have tried to digest lessons and insights from the world of disaster management and disaster risk reduction research and practice in ways that are helpful for people working in other areas – education, health, economic policy, insurance and financial services, human rights, engineering, food security and agriculture – just to mention a few. Have we succeeded?