In progress at UNHQ

IHA/679

ASIAN NATIONS CALL FOR DISASTER PREVENTION TO CONTINUE IN 21ST CENTURY

1 March 1999


Press Release
IHA/679
REC/33


ASIAN NATIONS CALL FOR DISASTER PREVENTION TO CONTINUE IN 21ST CENTURY

19990301 BANGKOK, 26 February (UN Information Services) -- A more structured approach to risk assessment and improved early warning systems are essential for substantially reducing human suffering and property losses due to natural disasters in the 21st century.

According to a Declaration adopted by the Regional Meeting on Natural Disaster Reduction in Asia, which has just concluded today, there is also a need to integrate mitigation and prevention practices into national development and planning processes. This is expected to enhance community resilience and promote political and socio-economic stability in the event of such disasters.

The Regional Meeting, between 23 and 26 February, was organized by the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction Secretariat (1990-2000) in collaboration with the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) and the Asian Disaster Preparedness Center.

The Bangkok Declaration adopted at the end of the four-day meeting also encourages sustained efforts to harness the considerable traditional knowledge and approaches for dealing with hazards and building up community capabilities and promoting private-public partnerships.

The Declaration urges financial institutions to promote a culture of prevention by supporting national disaster reduction plans on a pro-active basis and to promote disaster prevention as a public value.

The Regional Meeting also reviewed the accomplishments in the Region during the International Decade and formulated recommendations for future efforts to ensure continued commitment to disaster prevention throughout Asia during the next millennium.

Looking beyond the Decade, the Regional Meeting emphasized the need for effective coordination mechanisms within the United Nations system, as well as within individual countries, to promote disaster reduction and risk management during the 21st century as an integral part of sustainable development. These should, according to the Regional Meeting, function in directing efforts to prevent and mitigate disasters due to natural, technological and environmental

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hazards. In particular, the Regional Meeting urged the Secretary-General of the United Nations to set up an appropriate mechanism for bringing about concerted global action.

The Regional Meeting also underlined the importance of sustained commitments to disaster prevention by government authorities and others in order to consolidate and further the accomplishments of the Decade in the 21st century.

The Regional Meeting was attended by more than 150 representatives of governments, United Nations and other international organizations, technical and scientific bodies, non-governmental and community-based organizations from 24 Asian and Pacific countries .

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For information media. Not an official record.