Media Advisory

3rd October 2008

11:00am

‘Disaster Awareness Week’

Sunday 5th October – Saturday 11th October

Every year since the early nineties, the United Nations organises a World Disaster Reduction Campaign, which culminates on International Disaster Reduction Day, the second Wednesday of October (Wednesday 8th October 2008).

This year’s International Day for Disaster Reduction falls on the third anniversary of the massive 2005 South Asian Earthquake that devastated a whole region of Pakistan. A series of equally devastating disasters this year have highlighted the urgent need to reduce disaster risk and vulnerability to natural hazards. Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar, the Wenchuan Earthquake in China’s Sichuan province, and more recently, Hurricane Ike across Texas.

The Auckland Civil Defence & Emergency Management Group will be promoting ‘Disaster Awareness Week’, a week of activities aimed at raising awareness of hazards and the need to be prepared.

The purpose of ‘Disaster Awareness Week’ is to have a heightened period of activity to get across key Civil Defence Emergency Management messages to the general public.

The plan is to promote the key messages with local and regional activities for the Auckland region. The focus during the week is on encouraging individuals to take action to be better prepared to deal with disasters when they happen.

It is up to individuals and communities to accept some responsibility and carry out their own preparations and it is only the individual’s preparations which could ultimately prove to be life saving.

ENDS

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