UNITED NATIONS INTER-AGENCY TASK FORCE TO SET COURSE OF ACTION FOR INTERNATIONAL DISASTER REDUCTION ACTIVITIES

Press Release
IHA/703

UNITED NATIONS INTER-AGENCY TASK FORCE TO SET COURSE OF ACTION FOR INTERNATIONAL DISASTER REDUCTION ACTIVITIES

GENEVA, 25 April (OCHA) -- The Inter-Agency Task Force for Disaster Reduction, established by the General Assembly, will convene for its first meeting from 27 to 28 April in Geneva to adopt a programme of activities on the implementation of the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction.

The International Strategy for Disaster Reduction, which was first presented at the Programme Forum of the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction in July 1999, constitutes the framework for the disaster reduction activities of the United Nations system in the coming years, after the adoption of General Assembly resolution 54/219.

The main objectives of the strategy are to enable communities to become resilient to the effects of natural, technological and environmental hazards, thus reducing the compound risk posed to social and economic vulnerabilities within modern societies; and to proceed from protection against hazards to the management of risk, by integrating risk prevention strategies into sustainable development activities.

To implement the strategy, an Inter-Agency Secretariat and an Inter-Agency Task Force for Disaster Reduction have been established since January, as recommended by the Secretary-General in his report on successor arrangements to the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction.

The main functions of the Inter-Agency Task Force are to serve as the main forum within the United Nations system for devising strategies and policies for the reduction of natural hazards; to identify gaps in disaster reduction policies and programmes and recommend remedial action; to provide policy guidance to the secretariat; and to convene ad hoc meetings of experts on issues related to disaster reduction.

The Task Force is chaired by the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and is composed of eight representatives of organizations and entities of the United Nations system; eight representatives of civil society and non- governmental organizations; and six representatives from regional entities. The Director of the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction secretariat acts as Secretary to the Task Force.

The United Nations agencies that have been appointed to membership in the Task Force are the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), United Nations

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Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the World Food Programme (WFP) and the World Bank.

Representatives of the World Conservation Union, the International Federation of the Red Cross (IFRC), the International Council for Science, the Meteorological Office of Uruguay, the International Civil Defence Organization, the Drought Monitoring Centre of Zimbabwe, the Munich Reinsurance Company, and the National Land Agency of Japan have been nominated to represent civil society and non-governmental organizations.

The Council of Europe, the Asian Disaster Preparedness Centre, the Organization of African Unity (OAU), the Organization of American States (OAS), the South Pacific Commission for Applied Geoscience, and CIS International Council have been designated to represent regional entities.

Meeting for the first time as the Inter-Agency Task Force for Disaster Reduction, the members will analyse disaster trends in light of the increasing vulnerabilities of communities to natural hazards, and will identify priority action for disaster reduction activities in areas such as early warning and land- use planning. They will review action required in the long term at the national, regional and international levels and will discuss the possibility of setting up sub-groups in specific areas of interest.

The two-day meeting will end with the adoption of a programme of activities for the biennium 2000-2001 and the identification of task managers for those activities.

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