NEW YORK, 17 May 2009: Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon Sunday appealed to all nations to bolster efforts to curb disaster risk, stressing that decisive action taken now can be “one of the best investments countries can make”.
Speaking at the launch ceremony in Bahrain of the first-ever “Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction,” Mr. Ban said stepped up spending in slashing risk is “critical to saving lives and livelihoods”.
Further, it is essential in reaching the aims set forth in both the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the eight anti-poverty targets with a 2015 deadline, and the Hyogo Framework for Action, the 10-year programme adopted in 2005 which calls for investing heavily in disaster preparedness and strengthening the capacity of disaster-prone countries to address the risks.
Increased investment by nations “is critical to saving lives and livelihoods,” he underscored.
– We know the dividends. Reducing disaster risk can help countries decrease poverty, safeguard development and adapt to climate change. This, in turn, can promote global security, stability and sustainability, the Secretary-General said.
He noted that last year alone, 236.000 people were killed in more than 300 disasters, while 200 million others were directly affected, with damages totaling over 180 billion US dollar.
The new report by the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (ISDR) finds that global disaster risk is on the rise because of unsafe cities, environmental destruction and climate change, jeopardizing the lives of hundreds of millions of people worldwide.
Læs hele artiklen: www.un.org/news
