Small nations are uniquely susceptible to disasters. While all countries are exposed to various hazards, small nations’ limited resources, increased frequency of disasters, and geographic isolation make them more vulnerable and increase the potential of hazards to become disasters. Disaster risk reduction (DRR) is important to all nations but is specifically necessary in small nations. Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) is everything we do to reduce the damage caused by hazards through an ethic of prevention. Massive sudden-impact disasters can destroy communities instantly, while slow-onset disasters such as droughts and pandemics can erode them socio-economically month-by-month, year-by-year. Without disaster risk reduction, many small nations will experience steady decline and recurrent impediments to growth. Many small countries depend on international support during disasters. Sadly, most of this international funding goes toward disaster response and recovery work with very little going towards prevention and risk reduction. Disaster risk reduction is dependent on information. It should be data-driven. Small countries often need help with developing data infrastructures and historical and analytical capacities. Local research is necessary but less than 1% of the citations in PubMed addressed disasters in developing countries, yet 85% of disasters and 95% of disaster-related deaths occur in the developing world. The majority of disaster-related research articles are generated and funded by wealthy countries. Increased collaboration and support to small nations are needed by these wealthy countries that also assist with disasters to increase local research and improve data infrastructure capacity building.