Secretary-General Urges Preparatory Committee to ‘Pave’ Way to Fruitful World Disaster Risk Reduction Conference: World Needs Tools, Guidance

Following is UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s message, as delivered by Michael Møller, Acting Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva, to the Second Session of the Open-ended Intergovernmental Preparatory Committee of the Third United Nations World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction, in Geneva, 17 November:

I am pleased to send greetings to all participants at this Second Session of the Preparatory Committee of the Third United Nations World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction.  Natural hazards and climate risk can take a potentially enormous toll on our societies if countries do not agree on wise, action-oriented measures to save lives, preserve livelihoods and reduce economic losses.

The post-2015 framework for disaster risk reduction must take up where the Hyogo Framework for Action leaves off, providing the world with the necessary tools and guidance to reduce risk levels and avoid new dangers.  This will be important to our broader development efforts as the world strives next year to adopt a new universal climate agreement and a set of sustainable development goals.

I wish you a most productive session as you pave the way for a successful Third United Nations Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction.