Full Summary Report has been released by UNU Press:
Once Burned, Twice Shy? Lessons Learned from the 1997-98 El Niño
Full Country Reports can be accessed at:
www.unu.edu/env/govern/ElNIno/CountryReports
The adage "once burned, twice shy" suggests that when someone has had a bad experience, he or she is likely to shy away from being in the same position again, having better learned to deal with similar situations. By analogy, are societies that are forced to cope with recurring natural hazards such as El Niño and La Niña episodes learning from history?
This 19-month, 16-country team assessment reviewed forecasts and impacts of the 1997-98 El Niño, as well as the climate-related early warning and natural disaster preparedness systems in 15 countries and the Panama Canal Zone, highlighted below. Based on lessons drawn from these studies, the project identified research and policy needs and formulated regional and natural disaster preparedness responses to El Niño and La Niña events and their impacts. The Executive Summary for each country study is available by clicking on the country. More complete project findings are available here. For more information about ENSO (El Niño-Southern Oscillation), please see the glossary of terms.
The Executive Summaries for the country studies are available by clicking on the country:
| Bangladesh | China | Costa Rica | Cuba |
| Ecuador | Ethiopia | Fiji | Indonesia |
| Kenya | Mozambique | Panama Canal | Papua New Guinea |
| Paraguay | Peru | Philippines | Vietnam |
