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Education to earthquake and tsunami risks. DIPECHO ACSUR project, Nicaragua.

Knowledge saves lives

International Day for Disaster Reduction, 13 October 2015

Knowledge saves lives. This day is an opportunity to focus on the vital importance of traditional indigenous and local knowledge in disaster risk reduction with respect to natural hazards.

The contribution of indigenous and local knowledge to resilience among vulnerable populations was highlighted when the tsunami occurred in the Indian Ocean in 2004. The third United Nations World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction (14 18 March 2015) in Sendai, Japan, particularly emphasized the need to make this knowledge better known for the benefit of all. The Sendai Framework thus campaigns for greater cooperation between governments, local authorities, communities and indigenous peoples in the formulation and implementation of policies and standards for natural disaster prevention.

UNESCO is firmly engaged in this process, through its scientific, educational and cultural expertise. UNESCO is committed to the widest possible dissemination of indigenous knowledge to meet the challenges of climate change and natural hazards, especially in remote areas such as small islands, high altitude zones and the humid tropics. UNESCO has launched an initiative in the Philippines, Timor-Leste and Indonesia to record local knowledge that helps to understand, mitigate and adapt to storms, cyclones and the effects of climate change. It all demonstrates the profound knowledge and mastery of the environment by the peoples who live there, which we must urgently include in natural disaster management policies.

On the island of Ambae, in Vanuatu, UNESCO has helped to develop a participatory approach so as to integrate traditional and scientific knowledge in the management of volcanic hazards. On the occasion of this International Day, we are inviting Vanuatu schoolchildren recently affected by Tropical Cyclone Pam to write essays, poems and stories that depict the use of traditional and local knowledge. This traditional and indigenous knowledge also helps to protect the cultural heritage against natural hazards and UNESCO is committed to making the best use of it.

Effective and sustainable disaster risk prevention requires the combination of indigenous practices and knowledge with scientific expertise. We cannot afford to ignore the knowledge available to us; instead, we must expand on and integrate knowledge and expertise wherever they may be found. I invite all of our partners and governments to promote this global vision: it is the key to building societies that are all the more resilient when they are inclusive.

     Message from Ms Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO
     on the occasion of International Day for Disaster Reduction 2015

Celebrations

Resources

Publications

Local and indigenous knowledge for community resilience

Weathering Uncertainty: Traditional Knowledge for Climate Change Assessment and Adaptation

Looking Beyond Disasters (pdf)
Toolkit for youth

Facts and Figures

  • More than 226 million people are affected by disasters every year. Over the last 40 years, most of the 3.3 million deaths caused by disasters occurred in poorer nations.
  • In 2000-2010, over 680,000 people died in earthquakes. Most of these deaths, due to poorly-built buildings, could have been prevented.
  • Less than 0.7 per cent of total relief aid goes to disaster risk reduction, although every dollar spent on preparedness saves 7 dollars in response.
  • Between 2002 and 2011, there were 4,130 recorded disasters from natural hazards around the world, in which more than 1.117 million people perished and a minimum of US$1,195 billion was recorded in losses.
  • In East Asia and the Pacific, the risks of dying from floods and cyclones have decreased by two thirds since 1980.