A plan adopted at the just concluded Asian Conference on
Disaster Reduction aims to consolidate contingency and disaster
relief planning to mitigate human and socio-economic losses.
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The plan, the Beijing Action for Disaster Risk Reduction in Asia
(BADRRA), says that each disaster affects large number of people
and constantly challenges existing emergency response capacities.
It is critical for the effectiveness of disaster early warning as
efforts should ensure that people at risk are able to receive,
understand and act to protect themselves.
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BADRRA highlights that most Asian countries have neither developed
contingency plans nor incentives to encourage their development and
wider application.
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To reduce the loss of human lives, national governments are
encouraged to prepare, review and modify contingency plans
regularly for efficient and effective disaster response at
community and national levels, the plan said.
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BADRRA also suggests that cooperative contingency planning is
particularly important when responding to large-scale or
trans-boundary disasters. And assessing and communicating disaster
risks to decision-makers and the people at risk are the basis for
disaster preparedness and risk reduction frameworks.
BADRRA also made some proposals in enhancing the resilience of
critical facilities and infrastructure for disaster preparedness
and reduction.
Asia is possibly the most disaster-prone region of the world and
home to more than a third of the world's population. Frequent
floods, typhoons and earthquakes devastate lives, livelihoods and
economies.
Delegates from 42 countries participated in the Asian Conference
on Disaster Reduction that was held in Beijing from September 27 to
29. The meeting was organized to facilitate the implementation of
the Hyogo Framework for Action 2005-2015, developed at the World
Conference on Disaster Reduction (WCDR).
(Xinhua News Agency September 30, 2005)