New blueprint will build on the Hyogo Framework for Action, the first global plan to explain and detail the work required to reduce disaster losses
p> LONDON (AlertNet) - The United Nations has launched consultations on a new international blueprint for preventing disaster losses, to be adopted at a global conference on disaster reduction the Japanese government is proposing to host in 2015.The new scheme for disaster risk reduction will build on the 2005-2015 Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA), the world's first plan to explain and detail the work required to reduce disaster losses. The Hyogo Framework was agreed at an international meeting in Kobe in Japan's Hyogo Prefecture in January 2005.
The HFA outlines a set of five priorities for achieving a substantial reduction in disaster losses - in terms of lives and social, economic and environmental assets - by 2015.
A mid-term review, released last year, said progress was being made but implementation was uneven across the world, often did not take place in a holistic way, and was insufficient at the local level.
Yoichi Otabe, Japan's ambassador to the U.N. and other international organisations in Geneva, said on Monday there has been "significant improvement in the political and economic commitment to reducing risk and increasing resilience" since the 2005 Kobe conference, but "more needs to be done to help countries to address the causes of risk".
This summer, Japan will hold an international conference on coping with natural disasters, which will take place in the northeast Tohoku region devastated a year ago by a huge earthquake and tsunami. The gathering will support discussions on the new post-HFA plan to kick in after 2015.
"A new framework will help to mainstream disaster risk reduction into sustainable development policy after the Millennium Development Goals," Otabe said, referring to a set of international targets to reduce poverty and improve health by 2015.
"Development is too often sidetracked and at times even reversed by disasters, so investing in disaster risk reduction and resilience supports sustainable development," he added.
A paper on the post-2015 framework says that, whatever form it takes, it should enable the expansion of disaster risk reduction efforts that can be measured against development outcomes. It should also push for greater outreach among local communities, and make the economic case for greater investment in disaster risk management.
RISING ECONOMIC LOSSES
The paper says more people and assets are located in areas of high disaster risk, with the proportion of the world's population living in flood-prone river basins rising by 114 percent and those in coastal areas affected by cyclones up by 192 percent in the past 30 years.
In a recent AlertNet survey, senior aid workers identified climate-related disasters, displacement caused by climate change and rapid urbanisation as the main drivers of humanitarian need in the coming years.
Death tolls from disasters are generally declining thanks to efforts to warn and evacuate people in advance, but economic losses are on the rise.
In 2011, disasters inflicted record economic damage of $366 billion, mainly due to the huge $210 billion cost of the Japan quake.
Margareta Wahlström, the head of the U.N. International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR), said the world is indebted to Japan "when it comes to sharing its vast experience and knowledge of disaster risk reduction and preparedness".
"The learning from the Great East Japan Earthquake (of March 2011) will be a vital contribution to preparing the world to meet the challenges of disaster risk in the urbanised, globalised world of the 21st century where a natural hazard can trigger a chain of catastrophic events impacting lives and livelihoods in tragic ways, unless we are realistic in our assessment of risk and act accordingly," she said in a statement on Monday.
Currently, 133 countries are reporting on their progress in implementing the HFA, making it an important source of information on disaster risk management at the country level.
Meanwhile the UNISDR is collaborating with 40 countries to build national disaster-loss databases to assist with investment decisions.
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