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Contributing to the Implementation of the Hyogo Framework for Action 2005-2015

From 18-22 January 2005 in Kobe (Hyogo, Japan), the World Conference on Disaster Reduction took stock of progress in disaster risk reduction accomplished since the Yokohama Conference of 1994 and made plans for the next ten years, encapsulated in the Hyogo Framework of Action 2005-2015 and the Hyogo Declaration.

The Hyogo Declaration and Framework for Action include many of UNESCO’s concerns in the field of disaster reduction: capacity-building; research on natural hazards; interdisciplinary approach; integration of disaster reduction into developmental concerns. In concert with the Inter-Agency Secretariat of the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction, and other members of the Inter-Agency Task force on Disaster Reduction, UNESCO is committed to play an active part in the follow-up to the World Conference on Disaster Reduction held in Kobe.

In its contribution to the implementation of the Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA), UNESCO seeks to promote a better understanding of the distribution in time and space of natural hazards such as earthquakes, landslides, volcanic eruptions, floods, tsunamis and of their intensity, to help set up reliable early warning systems, to encourage rational land use plans, to secure the adoption of suitable building design, to protect educational buildings and cultural monuments, to strengthen environmental protection for the prevention of natural disasters, to enhance preparedness and public awareness through education and training, and to foster post-disaster investigation, recovery and rehabilitation, notably for educational buildings and cultural sites. UNESCO is supporting educational programmes to raise public awareness, introduce disaster reduction into school curricula as well as provide technical advice on the hazard resistant construction of schools and the protection of cultural heritage.

UNESCO’s scientific and technical contribution to disaster reduction are being promoted under the Organization's natural hazards programmes and in programmes related to the earth, water, ecological and oceanographic sciences such as the International Hydrological Programme, the International Geoscience Programme, the Man and Biosphere Programme and the programmes of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission.

In focusing its effort on the priority area ‘Knowledge, innovation and education - Building a culture of resilient communities’, UNESCO is in particular promoting and implementing the following initiatives:

  • Mobilizing a ‘Coalition on Education’, with the aim of taking the lead in integrating disaster reduction education into school programmes and in making school buildings safer, in the context of the United Nations Decade on Education for Sustainable Development (2005-2015); 
  • Developing a tsunami early warning system for the Indian Ocean and a global tsunami early warning system;
  •  Promoting an international flood initiative involving UNESCO, WMO, the United Nations University, the UN-ISDR and the International Association of Hydrological Sciences. The headquarters for the new project are based at the International Centre for Water Hazard and Risk Management (ICHARM), a Centre under the auspices of UNESCO, located at the Public Works Research Institute in Tsukuba, Japan;
  • Supporting an open Alliance to support earthquake risk reduction and disaster management planning in megacities;
  • Promoting the International Consortium and Programme on landslides;
  • Preserving cultural monuments and sites from disaster risk, including World Heritage sites.

Contact information:
Badaoui Rouhban, Chief, Section for Disaster Reduction, Natural Sciences Sector, UNESCO
sc.ndr@unesco.org
See Website: Disaster Preparedness and Mitigation

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