International Conferences on Disaster Management

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The two major confrences that has been instrumental is suggesting guidelines and framework for Disaster Management, are Hyugo Framework and Yokohama strategy.

Hyogo Framework for Action 

The UN World Conference on Disaster Reduction (WCDR) was held from 18-22 January 2005, at the in Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan. Approximately 4,000 participants attended the WCDR, including representatives from 168 governments including more than 40 ministers, 78 UN specialized agencies and observer organizations, 161 non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and 562 journalists from 154 media outlets. The WCDR aimed to increase the international profile of disaster risk reduction, promote its integration into development planning and practice, and strengthen local and national capacities to address the causes of disasters that hamper development in many countries.

The World Conference on Disaster Reduction was held from 18 to 22 January 2005 in Kobe, Hyogo, Japan, and adopted the present Framework for Action 2005-2015: Building the Resilience of Nations and Communities to Disasters (here after referred to as the “Framework for Action”).

The Conference provided a unique opportunity to promote a strategic and systematic approach to reducing vulnerabilitiesand risks to hazards.It underscored the need for, and identified ways of, building the resilience of nations and communities to disasters. The newly outlined Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA) 2005-2015, aims at guiding stakeholders towards “Building the Resilience of Nations and Communities to Disasters”, It also focuses on Disaster Risk Reduction through five priorities for action:

1. Ensure that Disaster Risk Reduction is a national and a local priority with a strong institutional basis for implementation.
2. Identify, assess and monitor disaster risks and enhance early warning
3. Use knowledge, innovation and education to build a culture of safety and resilience at all levels
4. Reduce the underlying risk factors
5. Strengthen disaster preparedness for effective response at all levels.

The Yokohama Strategy

The Yokohama Strategy for a Safer World: Guidelines for Natural Disaster Prevention, Preparedness and Mitigation and its Plan of Action (“Yokohama Strategy”), adopted in 1994, provides landmark guidance on reducing disaster risk and the impacts of disasters.

The review of progress made in implementing the Yokohama Strategyidentifies major challenges for the coming years in ensuring more systematic action to address disaster risks in the context of sustainable development and in building resilience through enhanced national and local capabilities to manage and reduce risk.

The review stresses the importance of disaster risk reduction being underpinned by a more pro-active approach to informing, motivating and involving people in all aspects of disaster risk reduction in their own local communities. It also highlights the scarcity of resources allocated specifically from development budgets for the realization of risk reduction objectives, either at the national or the regional level or through international cooperation and financial mechanisms, while noting the significant potential to better exploit existing resources and established practices for more effective disaster risk reduction.

Specific gaps and challenges are identified in the following five main areas:

(a) Governance: organizational, legal and policy frameworks;

(b) Risk identification, assessment, monitoring and early warning;

(c) Knowledge management and education;

(d) Reducing underlying risk factors;

(e) Preparedness for effective response and recovery.

These are the key areas for developing a relevant framework for action for the decade 2005–2015.