Definitions of vulnerable people

To address the first point, defining vulnerable people, I examined many literature and legal sources, to conclude that there is as of yet no definition suited to estimating the number of vulnerable people.

If we want to guarantee equitable disaster risk, we must first know:
•Who are vulnerable people?
•Why are they vulnerable?
•How many vulnerable people exist?
•Which Disaster Risk Management (DRM) measures exist to reduce their vulnerability?

To answer these research questions, it is necessary to:
•Define vulnerable people
•Construct a vulnerability framework based on the root causes of vulnerability
•Estimate the number of vulnerable people
•Evaluate DRM policies

This leads to the following definitions:

Vulnerable people in a community: people who have one or more characteristics that make them more susceptible than others in a community and who therefore require extra DRM measures in order for them to have the same level of risk as others. The picture shows a self-reliant person and a person with a characteristic of vulnerability.

Group of potentially vulnerable people: a group of people who share an aspect that distinguishes the group, such as age or ethnicity, and a majority of whom have one or more characteristics of vulnerable people. The word ‘potential’ in this definition indicates that while there are many individuals in the group who have one or more characteristics of vulnerable people, it is unidentifiable which individuals have the characteristics. The picture shows an example of a group of potentially vulnerable people.

Pictures by Daniel Vrielink (2014).