EIACP PC Hub: Kerala
State of Environment and Related Issues

The United Nations’ (UN) International Day for Natural Disaster Reduction is annually observed on the second Wednesday of October to raise the profile of disaster risk reduction. It also encourages people and governments to participate in building more resilient communities and nations.

On December 22, 1989, the UN General Assembly designated the second Wednesday of October as the International Day for Natural Disaster Reduction. This event was to be observed annually during the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction, 1990-1999. On December 20, 2001, the assembly decided to maintain the observance to promote a global culture of natural disaster reduction, including disaster prevention, mitigation and preparedness.

According to a recent study, Asia and the Pacific is the region most severely affected by natural disasters, especially by water-related disasters, including floods, which affected over 1,500 million people and caused a total flood damage of over US$ 110 billion during the last decade. Lately, in this year, the floods in Bangladesh, China and India have killed more than a thousand people and affected over 100 million people in these three countries and further caused economic damage of several US$ billion.

Disasters bring loss of life, destroy homes and businesses, create shortages of food and safe water, and emotional stress and trauma. One of the greatest challenges of the 21st century is protecting people, especially the world’s poor, from the devastating impacts of disasters.

In India, one of the most hazard prone countries in South Asia, the risk of a natural disaster affecting millions of persons is extremely high. Floods, drought, landslides, and cyclones are common. The 1999 Orissa Cyclone, the 2001 Gujarat Earthquake, and the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami each killed more than 10,000 people and left millions homeless. The 2005 earthquake in Jammu and Kashmir was a grim reminder of the extremely high earthquake risk throughout much of South Asia. And in 2007, floods have caused havoc and misery throughout many states in India, most recently in Bihar and Assam, affecting more than forty million people and killing over 2,000 persons.

When it drew to an end, the IDNDR was replaced and continued by the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (ISDR). The ISDR aims to pursue the initiatives and cooperation agreed on during the IDNDR, and developing new mechanisms as well as pushing for further commitments from policy-makers. The overriding goal is to reduce human, social, economic and environmental losses due to natural hazards (and related technological and environmental disasters). The building of disaster resilient communities is a main objective. The ISDR promotes the following four objectives as tools towards reaching disaster reduction for all:

• Increase public awareness to understand risk, vulnerability and disaster reduction globally

• Obtain commitment from public authorities to implement disaster reduction policies and actions

• Stimulate interdisciplinary and inter-sectoral partnerships, including the expansion of risk reduction networks

• Improve scientific knowledge about disaster reduction