The New Nation - Internet Edition

BSS, Dhaka

Secretary General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon urged upon the governments, civil society bodies, international financial institutions and the private sector for making investment in tangible risk reduction measures to reduce vulnerability and protect development.

In a message on the eve of International Day for Disaster reduction, which falls on October 8, the UN Secretary General said, the observance of the Day takes place in a year that has seen more than its fair share of natural calamities.

The casualties in the earthquake in South Asia three years ago and this year's Wenchuan Earthquake and Cyclone Nargis still fresh in our minds, it is all the more appropriate to recall the lessons we have learned, he added.

He said Nearly four years ago, governments adopted the Hyogo Framework for Action, which aims to reduce our collective vulnerability to natural hazards. But we must do more to turn commitments on paper into deeds that can keep the next major disaster from taking so many lives and destroying so many livelihoods.

Ban Ki-moon said "When we are trying to accelerate national and international efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, disaster risk reduction needs to be acknowledged and incorporated as a key plank of that work. The threats posed by climate change-including increasing droughts, floods and storms- increases the urgency further still, particularly in the world's poorest, most vulnerable communities."

The World Disaster Reduction Campaign for 2008-2009 focuses on making "Hospitals Safe from Disasters", when health facilities are damaged, so, too, is our ability to improve maternal and child health and to provide other essential health services, he said adding, in resilient communities, health systems are better able to withstand natural hazards.

He urged all partners- Governments, civil society, international financial institutions and the private sector-to step up implementation of the Hyogo Framework.