Policy & Planning

UN urges nations to invest in disaster management

By Alice Kok | 20 May 2009

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has urged nations across the globe to invest in disaster management to minimise losses from natural disasters, while stressing that the Arab states must take the issue more seriously.

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Mr Ban, who was in Bahrain to launch the two-day 2009 Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction conference, also said in a press conference after the event’s opening that all nations should understand that natural disasters can happen anywhere and nations must be ready for disaster management.

The report was launched in the presence of Bahrain’s Prime Minister Shaikh Khalifa Bin Sulman Al Khalifa at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel and Spa, at the event hosted by Bahrain’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Effective disaster management has reduced the impacts of losses from disasters in many countries, particularly in Bangladesh, he said during the press conference.

In response to Ban Ki-moon’s remarks, Bahrain’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Shaikh Abdullah Bin Ahmed Al-Khalifa, cautioned the Arab world “not think that the regional countries are immune to natural disasters and that they are safe…but must understand that such unfortunate events can happen anywhere in the world anytime, and being prepared for them.”

The report, launched following a series of recent disasters across the world, is the first biennial global assessment of disaster risk reduction prepared by the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (ISDR). The ISDR, launched in 2000, provides a framework to coordinate actions to address disaster risks at the local, national, regional and international levels.