The World Conference on Disaster Reduction in Kobe, Japan, concluded on Saturday without agreement on clear targets for the reduction of deaths from natural disasters 鈥� or on funding 鈥� for the next decade.
But the 168 nations involved did agree to establish national and local disaster reduction policies and to ensure a variety of support systems are in place for disaster detection, assessment and management. And the UN committed to improving relations between various groups, including non-government organisations and financial institutions, to help implement these policies.
The 鈥渆xpected outcome鈥� of the Hyogo Framework for Action, 2005-2015, is 鈥渢he substantial reduction of disaster losses, in lives and in the social, economic and environmental assets of communities and countries鈥�.
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But the proposals to achieve these goals were criticised by NGOs as vague. 鈥淭his outcome document lacks specificity and detail,鈥� says Ben Wisner of the hazard vulnerability and assessment department of the London School of Economics, UK. 鈥淲e expected very concrete commitments of resources, which are not there.鈥�
Building on concrete
But UN agencies insist the document is just the start. 鈥淥ne conference cannot solve everything,鈥� says Salvano Briceno, head of the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction.
Jan Egeland, the UN鈥檚 head of humanitarian affairs, added: 鈥淭his is a concrete document that can be the basis for a lot of concrete work in the next decade.鈥� The agreements mean that, over this period, 鈥渨e should be able to reduce the casualties caused by natural disasters by half & saving of thousands of lives and millions of livelihoods鈥�.
Despite the lack of quantifiable targets, NGOs did welcome some aspects of the conference document, such as agreement that disaster risk reduction should be more effectively integrated into sustainable development policies and planning at all levels.
鈥淟aboratory for change鈥�
Another notable conference achievement was the consensus that a tsunami early warning system should be set up in the Indian Ocean quickly, under UN leadership.
鈥淚 believe the Indian Ocean will be a laboratory for change that can be duplicated to early warning systems and platforms for all disaster-prone regions of the world,鈥� Egeland said.
There has already been progress, notes Egeland, with a threefold reduction in natural disaster fatalities in the decade up to May 2004, compared to the previous decade. This framework should accelerate that reduction. 鈥淭he world may not be a safer place next week, but it should be in a year from now.鈥�
