Vulnerability is defined as the characteristics determined by physical, social, economic and environmental factors or processes which increase the susceptibility of an individual, a community, assets or systems to the impacts of hazards.
Vulnerability is one of the defining components of disaster risk.
Vulnerability can be a challenging concept to understand because it tends to mean different things to different people and because it is often described using a variety of terms including
‘predisposition’, ‘fragility’, ‘weakness’, ‘deficiency’ or ‘lack of capacity’.
Some definitions of vulnerability have included exposure in addition to susceptibility to harm. However, it is now understood that exposure is separate to the ‘susceptibility’ element of vulnerability since it is possible to be exposed, whilst at the same time not susceptible to natural hazards.
Vulnerability analysis involves understanding the root causes or drivers of vulnerability, but also peoples capacities cope and recover from disasters
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