UN conference adopts 10-year plan to tackle natural hazards
23 January 2005 – The United Nations World Conference on Disaster Reduction – a long-planned event which gained added
importance in the wake of the recent Indian Ocean tsunami – has concluded in Kobe, Japan, with countries pledging to
reduce the risks facing millions of people who are exposed to natural calamities.
At the final session on Saturday, 168 delegations adopted the “Hyogo Framework for Action: 2005 – 2015,” which calls for
putting disaster risk at the center of national policies, strengthening the capacity of disaster-prone countries to
address risk, and investing heavily in disaster preparedness.
“This new plan will help reduce the gap between what we know and what we do; the critical ingredient is political
commitment,” said UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Jan Egeland, who has been deeply involved in the tsunami relief
effort.
Taking place less than one month after that catastrophic event claimed up to 230,000 lives, the conference heard
numerous voices from around the globe pledging to foster protection against future calamities.
Speaking at the closing meeting, the President of the Conference, Yoshitaka Murata, said “these five days spent in Kobe
will make a real difference in the way we look at hazards, at risks and vulnerability, and that we all truly engage on
the road for a safer world.”
The conference also adopted a declaration recommending that a “culture of disaster prevention and resilience” must be
fostered and recognizing the relationship between disaster reduction, sustainable development and poverty reduction.
While hailing the progress achieved in Kobe, Mr. Egeland cautioned that success is “contingent on partnerships on
working together to meet this global challenge.”
At the meeting, an International Early Warning Programme was launched to improve resilience to all types of natural
hazards including droughts, wildland fires, floods, typhoons, hurricanes, landslides, volcanic eruption and tsunamis.
This UN initiative will emphasize the importance of people-centered early warning systems and community education about
disaster preparedness.
In response to last month's tsunami disaster, the World Conference held a special session where delegates pledged their
support to create a regional tsunami early warning system in the Indian Ocean. The new warning system will draw from the
experience of the Pacific Ocean tsunami early warning systems making use of the existing coordination mechanism of the
Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
Also launched during the Conference were an international flood initiative, an alliance to support earthquake risk
reduction and the earthquake megacities initiative, all geared to helping countries and communities cope with disasters.
“The world may not be a safer place next week but that is when we will have to start working together to ensure that
commitments made at this event become a reality,” said Mr. Egeland.