REGIONAL MEETING ON NATURAL DISASTER REDUCTION IN ASIA

12 February 1999

Press Release
REC/32

REGIONAL MEETING ON NATURAL DISASTER REDUCTION IN ASIA

19990212 BANGKOK, 12 February (UN Information Service) -- Participants from over 24 Asian countries are scheduled to meet in Bangkok late February to review achievements in the field of natural disaster reduction in Asia and the challenges for the twenty-first century.

Discussions will focus on the scientific, economic and policy aspects of disaster reduction. The diverse professional interests involved in preventing natural disasters will include multidisciplinary concerns pertaining to environmental degradation, growth of urbanization, community aspects of disaster reduction, and the important role for continuous public information and education.

The meeting has been convened by the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction Secretariat (IDNDR) in collaboration with the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) and the Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC) at the United Nations Conference Centre from 23 to 26 February.

Participants at the meeting include government representatives, policy- makers dealing with disaster management at the national level, representatives of United Nations agencies, non-governmental organizations, members of the scientific community and representatives of the private sector dealing with disaster reduction. Representatives from the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank will also be present.

Asia is affected by more natural disasters than any other region in the world. According to Munich Reinsurance, six out of the 10 major natural disasters which occurred in 1998 have been in Asia, claiming the lives of 27,000 people and amounting to more than $38.2 billion in economic losses. For instance, in China, according to the Ministry of Civil Affairs, natural disasters killed 5,500 people and affected 350 million others in 1998, the majority by devastating floods.

As the impact of disasters increases, it becomes evident that neither government authorities nor local communities can themselves continue to assume the rising costs of compensating citizens for losses incurred. The only affordable solution lies through investment in mitigation and prevention measures such as timely warning systems and effective prevention policies and practices. In Asia in particular, risk reduction will become one of the major challenges of the twenty-first century.

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The conclusions of the regional meeting in Bangkok will be presented to the International IDNDR Programme Forum on "Partnerships for a safer world in the 21st century" to be held between 4 and 7 July 1999. Organized by the IDNDR Secretariat, the Forum will result in a platform and provide recommendations for further institutional support to disaster reduction beyond the year 2000.

The objective of the Decade is to reduce, through concerted international action, the loss of life, property damage, and the social and economic disruption caused by natural disasters, especially in developing countries. IDNDR works through IDNDR Committees and Focal Points in 140 countries. A Scientific and Technical Committee of 25 experts, appointed by the Secretary General of the United Nations, is the Decade's scientific advisory body. A United Nations Inter-Agency Standing Committee on IDNDR meets regularly. The IDNDR secretariat is based in Geneva and forms part of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Within the framework of its final year, IDNDR has adopted a comprehensive Plan of Action to assess progress in disaster reduction over the past 10 years, identify trends in natural hazards in order to project related risks into the twenty-first century and to shape future directions for sustained international and interdisciplinary commitment to disaster prevention.

For more information, contact Madeleine Moulin-Acevedo in Geneva: tel: + 41 22 917 97 12, fax: 917 90 99, e-mail: idndr@dha.unicc.org, and in Bangkok from 22 February, tel: + 66 22 2881174 or + 66 2 2882313, fax: +66 2 2806046.

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