International day for disaster reduction |13 October 2016
DRDM staff take part in mass
Staff of the Division of Risk and Disaster Management were joined but members of the public during a mass yesterday to mark the international day for disaster reduction which is being observed today.
The mass was celebrated by father David Alcindor.
Meanwhile, in his message for the occasion, United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said “we can replace material possessions, but we cannot replace people.”
He added that he is repeatedly appalled at how many people die in disasters, the majority of victims are invariably the poor and vulnerable.
The UN Secretary General’s message reads: “Last year, governments adopted the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction and embedded its objectives in the 2030 Development Agenda. Today, we launch the ‘Sendai Seven Campaign: Seven Targets, Seven Years’, which highlights how we can all contribute to reducing disaster losses. This year’s target is reducing loss of life.
“We can replace material possessions, but we cannot replace people. I am repeatedly appalled at how many people die in disasters. The majority of victims are invariably the poor and vulnerable.
“Today, hundreds of millions of people live at risk from rising seas, earthquakes, drought, heat waves, floods and storms. They live on marginal lands, beneath unstable hillsides or on storm-exposed coastlines. This is why eradicating extreme poverty ‒ the first of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals ‒ is essential to reducing disaster risk.
“The report ‘Poverty & Death: Disaster Mortality 1996-2015’, published today by the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR), is a damning indictment of inequality. High-income countries suffer huge economic losses in disasters, but people in low-income countries pay with their lives.
“On this International Day for Disaster Reduction, I call on all governments to work with civil society and the private sector to move from managing disasters to managing risk. Let us move from a culture of reaction to one of prevention and build resilience by reducing loss of life.”
The seven global targets for disaster reduction are:
(a) Substantially reduce global disaster mortality by 2030, aiming to lower average per 100,000 global mortality rate in the decade 2020-2030 compared to the period 2005-2015.
(b) Substantially reduce the number of affected people globally by 2030, aiming to lower average global figure per 100,000 in the decade 2020 -2030 compared to the period 2005-2015.
(c) Reduce direct disaster economic loss in relation to global gross domestic product (GDP) by 2030.
(d) Substantially reduce disaster damage to critical infra-structure and disruption of basic services, among them health and educational facilities, including through developing their resilience by 2030.
(e) Substantially increase the number of countries with national and local disaster risk reduction strategies by 2020.
(f) Substantially enhance international cooperation to developing countries through adequate and sustainable sup-port to complement their national actions for implementation of this Framework by 2030.
(g) Substantially increase the availability of and access to multi-hazard early warning systems and disaster risk in-formation and assessments to the people by 2030.
As for the four priorities for action, they are:
1. Understanding disaster risk
Disaster risk management should be based on an under-standing of disaster risk in all its dimensions of vulnerability, capacity, exposure of persons and assets, hazard characteristics and the environment. Such knowledge can be used for risk assessment, prevention, mitigation, preparedness and response.
2. Strengthening disaster risk governance to manage disaster risk
Disaster risk governance at the national, regional and global levels is very important for prevention, mitigation, preparedness, response, recovery, and rehabilitation. It fosters collaboration and partnership.
3. Investing in disaster risk reduction for resilience
Public and private investment in disaster risk prevention and reduction through structural and non-structural measures are essential to enhance the economic, social, health and cultural resilience of persons, communities, countries and their assets, as well as the environment.
4. Enhancing disaster preparedness for effective response and to “Build Back Better” in recovery, rehabilitation and reconstruction
The growth of disaster risk means there is a need to strengthen disaster preparedness for response, take action in anticipation of events, and ensure capacities are in place for effective response and recovery at all levels. The recovery, rehabilitation and reconstruction phase is a critical opportunity to build back better, including through integrating disaster risk reduction into development measures.