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Disaster risk management
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International debate on disaster risk management and instruments developed by the international community
International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction (1990 to 1999)
The international community has realised that natural disasters are an obstacle to sustainable development, aggravate poverty and thus jeopardise our chances of achieving the Millennium Development Goals. In reaction to the devastating natural disasters of the 1970s and 1980s, the United Nations made the decade from 1990 to 1999 the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction (IDNDR), according disaster risk management a high international profile for the first time.
In 1999 Kofi Annan, the then United Nations Secretary-General, called on the international community to continue its efforts. When the decade was over, the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (ISDR) was launched to this end. The Secretariat of the ISDR in Geneva is overseen by the UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator.
During the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction, the German Committee for Disaster Reduction within the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction was founded in 1990 in Bonn. Its task is to better integrate disaster risk management in the thoughts and actions of politicians, the academic community and society at large.
First World Conference on Natural Disaster Reduction in Yokohama in 1994
In 1994 representatives of the United Nations met for the First World Conference on Natural Disaster Reduction in Yokohama. At the conference the first-ever strategy to reduce natural disasters was adopted (The Yokohama Strategy for a Safer World). It was also the first time at international level that politicians had shared experience in the field of disaster risk management and it provided an opportunity for experts to work together to devise new strategies.
The conference made it quite clear that disaster risk management is an integral part of sustainable development and that the individuals affected must be more closely involved, allowing them to contribute their skills and use the options open to them.
International Conferences on Early Warning Systems for Natural Disaster Reduction in 1998, 2003 and 2006
In 1998 the First International Conference on Early Warning Systems for Natural Disaster Reduction was held in Potsdam. In October 2003 the United Nations announced the second conference, which was held in Bonn, under the banner "Integrating Early Warning into Relevant Policies".
The conference discussed the need for improved early warning systems and laid out a framework for establishing such systems around the globe. In response to a recommendation by the conference, the Secretariat for the Platform for the Promotion of Early Warning (UN/ISDR-PPEW) was set up in Bonn. This platform is part of the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (ISDR).
Under the banner "From concept to action" the Third International Conference on Early Warning was held in Bonn in March 2006. Hundreds of experts discussed the promotion of special projects and developed new approaches to disaster risk management.
The general feeling was that, in order to effectively counter disasters, the various policy fields involved must be more closely dovetailed. Development cooperation, humanitarian aid, security and environmental policy need to be harmonised.
World Conference on Disaster Reduction in Kobe 2005
In January 2005, only a few weeks after the devastating tsunami in the Indian Ocean, the second World Conference on Disaster Reduction was held in Kobe, Japan. Its motto was, "A safer world for all".
In Kobe 168 United Nations member states adopted the Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA), which provides a blueprint for implementing disaster risk reduction measures around the world. The German government is also involved in putting it into practice.
Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction
In June 2007 the first meeting of the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction was held in Geneva. In future it will be the global forum for all parties involved in disaster risk reduction. The second meeting was held from 15 to 19 June 2009 in Geneva, and aimed to increase awareness of the need to reduce disaster risks, exchange experience, learn from one another, and push forward with the implementation of the Hyogo Framework for Action adopted in Kobe.
Instruments used to respond to natural disasters
In 2007 the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR) was established in response to a World Bank initiative. The facility aims to better integrate disaster risk management in poor countries at particular threat from natural disasters. The aim of this financing instrument is to build national disaster risk reduction capacities and to allow for damage to be identified rapidly in the wake of disasters, as well as encouraging disaster-preventive rebuilding. The facility has the support of a number of donors and works closely with the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (ISDR).
Having ascertained that international aid does not reach the affected countries swiftly enough, the General Assembly of the United Nations decided in 2005 to set up the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF).
Disaster risk management in the context of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
Disaster risk management is also becoming increasingly important within the context of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. At the Conferences of the Parties held in Bali (2007) and Poznan (2008) efforts in this field were recognised as central to moves to adapt to climate change.
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