on the occasion of the
2006 International Disaster Reduction Day
11 October 2006

International Disaster Reduction Day provides an important opportunity to remember that prevention, mitigation and preparedness are the key elements in reducing the loss of life, suffering and material damage caused by disasters. In order to reduce the world's vulnerability to natural disasters, we must establish new partnerships that draw together stakeholders from all levels of society, across different regions, sectors and disciplines. Governments, academic and scientific communities, NGOs, international organizations, local communities and the media are essential players in promoting safety measures: the concerted efforts of all these stakeholders are essential to building a culture of disaster resilience.

First and foremost, we need to educate people - in particular young people - about disasters and their far-reaching implications for the way we live. To mitigate the risks stemming from natural hazards such as earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes, floods, windstorms, landslides, volcanic eruptions, droughts and wildfires, people must be informed of dangers and the protective measures available, and well versed in the skills of prevention and resilience.

Last June at UNESCO Headquarters, the Organization had the privilege of launching, alongside the Director of the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction, a world campaign on education. Entitled "Disaster Risk Reduction Begins at School", the campaign aims to promote disaster reduction education in school curricula and to improve school safety by encouraging the application of strict construction standards. This initiative is fully consonant with UNESCO's priorities in education, information and public awareness. The experience of countries prone to natural disasters emphasizes the highly positive effects of education on disaster risk management. Children and adults who know what to do when an earthquake strikes, community leaders who have learned to warn their people in time and all those who have contributed to better preparedness and the dissemination of information on dangers: such actions play an essential role in successful mitigation strategies.

Disaster reduction initiatives should be rooted in schools and in educational programmes, but also in social community programmes and activities. In this way societies can assure the basic, practical knowledge that communities must have in order to confront the dangers of natural disasters and to survive them with the least possible loss of human life.

UNESCO is also engaged in education for disaster reduction within the context of sustainable development. The Organization is particularly well placed to address this challenge, which it will seek to do through its lead role in the field of knowledge management, one of the priorities of the Hyogo Framework for Action 2005-2015: Building the Resilience of Nations and Communities to Disasters. The United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (2005-2014), which UNESCO is coordinating, is a second strategic instrument for achieving results. UNESCO will also further facilitate the establishment of a global alliance on education and information for disaster reduction, which will be promoted worldwide.

International Disaster Reduction Day, which has taken place yearly since 1990, is certainly of special concern to developing countries, and the Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries for the Decade 2001-2010 inscribed disaster reduction among its priorities. But recent events have shown that all societies are vulnerable to natural hazards. In this sense International Disaster Reduction Day is both a reminder of the common challenges faced by humankind, and a call for determined and sustained common action by the international community to meet them.

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