WORLD DISASTER REDUCTION DAY TO EMPHASIZE THAT 'PREVENTION BEGINS WITH INFORMATION'
Press Release
IHA/666
WORLD DISASTER REDUCTION DAY TO EMPHASIZE THAT 'PREVENTION BEGINS WITH INFORMATION'
19981009 GENEVA/NEW YORK, 9 October (OCHA) -- The World Disaster Reduction Day will be celebrated worldwide this year on 14 October with a global focus on the opportunities in which scientific knowledge and practical experience can be communicated to prevent natural hazards from turning into deadly disasters. More accurate scientific assessment of storms, the communication of effective early warning systems, and a more informed public understanding of hazards that affect local communities, all demonstrate examples of how "Prevention Begins with Information".World Disaster Reduction Day is the culminating point of the 1998 United Nations World Disaster Reduction Campaign organized by the Secretariat of the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction (IDNDR 1990-2000).
Major natural disasters have, worldwide, caused economic losses of more than $400 billion during the past 10 years. At least, 3 million people have lost their lives in disasters during the last 30 years and hundreds of millions of people have been affected. According to the Munich Re-insurance Company, since 1960 natural disasters have shown a fourfold increase in number, while economic losses have grown by eight times. In such a situation, preparedness measures for more efficient rescue and relief activities will remain necessary, but such mounting expenditures cannot continue to be justified unless efforts have first been made through adequate preventive measures to save lives and to protect property before they are lost.
By emphasizing that "Prevention Begins with Information", the World Disaster Reduction Day provides an opportunity for global communication in all its forms to stress that disaster prevention results from many inter-organizational and multidisciplinary activities, all linked through the exchange of information. The media has a special and important role to play as it daily shapes public understanding of a changing world. Educators, too, provide a crucial link through their efforts to provide practical measures to reduce risk across generations. Non-governmental organizations and other elements of civil society, the private commercial sector and investment institutions, all share an interest in protecting their respective assets.
World Disaster Reduction Day will be celebrated in more than 70 countries. Activities include workshops, conducted with the participation
of local media on disaster reduction and social communication/media, discussion groups in schools, the inauguration of disaster prevention centres in local communities, the creation and distribution of disaster prevention brochures in countries such as India, Bangladesh, Philippines, New Zealand, Ecuador, Costa Rica, Poland, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Ghana, Madagascar, Canada and France.
This type of partnership and diversity is also being recognized by the presentation on 14 October of the United Nations Sasakawa Award for Disaster Prevention. This year the award will be presented to Duo Ji Cai Rang, Minister of Civil Affairs of the People's Republic of China, and to Wang Ang-sheng of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The Chinese recipients of the Award will join the four other selected finalists for the Award (representatives of Australia, Mexico, Armenia and Egypt) in a round-table discussion about "Risk Partnership" that will be chaired by Sergio Vieira de Mello, United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator and Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs.
Related celebrations will include the premier presentation of "A Song for Montserrat", a special music video prepared by top Caribbean artists to raise money for the reconstruction of Montserrat. The winners of the international IDNDR photo contest on disaster reduction themes will also be announced.
Other scheduled events organized by the IDNDR secretariat include an Internet conference on "Disaster Prevention Begins with Information" being conducted with more than 700 participants from 28 September to 18 October. This virtual conference and active discussion forum can be accessed on the Internet at http://www.quipu.net:1998/.
Also available is a comprehensive IDNDR press kit on disaster prevention activities available on the Internet at http://www.reliefweb.int/. (Go to OCHA online, then to disaster reduction, then to press kit). A B Roll (duration: 2'38') and a Radio Programme in English with script (duration: 16'20') are available upon request.
For further information please contact Madeleine Moulin- Acevedo, tel: 41 22 7986894, fax: 4122 733 8695, e-mail: Madeleine.Moulin-Acevedo@dha.unicc.org. or Kayoko Gotoh, tel: (212) 963-2412.
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