International Strategy for Disaster Reduction

A/RES/68/211View PDF

Who created this mandate?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 19cInternational Strategy for Disaster Reduction, published in 2013.

What other versions does this mandate have?

15 versions · 2002–2016

This is an older version — the most recent is A/RES/70/204

2016A/RES/70/204International Strategy for Disaster ReductionLatestCompare with previous version
2015A/RES/69/219International Strategy for Disaster ReductionCompare with previous version
2014A/RES/68/211International Strategy for Disaster ReductionCompare with previous version
2013A/RES/67/209International Strategy for Disaster ReductionCompare with previous version
2012A/RES/66/199International Strategy for Disaster ReductionCompare with previous version

Versions are identified automatically by matching titles within the same organ (~97% accuracy on a manual audit).

What subjects does this mandate have?

3 topics

Conferences Disaster Prevention Disaster Relief

What does this mandate say?

37 operative paragraphs

Takes note of the report of the Secretary-General on the implementation of General Assembly resolution 67/209;

Stresses the importance of the continued substantive consideration of the issue of disaster risk reduction, and encourages all States and relevant United Nations bodies to take into consideration the important role of disaster risk reduction activities for, inter alia, the achievement of sustainable development and poverty eradication;

Welcomes the deliberations and results of the fourth session of the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction, held in Geneva from 19 to 23 May 2013, as the main forum at the global level for strategic advice, coordination and partnership development for disaster risk reduction and the review of progress on the implementation of the Hyogo Framework for Action 2005–2015: Building the Resilience of Nations and Communities to Disasters;9

Stresses the importance of regional coordination in the framework of the preparatory process in order to promote broad participation in the Third World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction, welcomes in this regard the deliberations of the regional platforms and meetings which have been held in Jordan, Indonesia, New Caledonia, Chile, Croatia and Norway and which have provided a critical contribution to the consultations on the post-2015 framework for disaster risk reduction and the preparations for the fourth session of the Global Platform, and looks forward to the upcoming regional platforms scheduled in 2014 in Ecuador, Thailand, Spain, Belgium, Nigeria, Fiji and Egypt;

Strongly encourages giving appropriate consideration to disaster risk reduction and the building of resilience to disasters within the post-2015 development agenda;

Reiterates its strong encouragement for the promotion of a complementary and coherent approach to the relationship between the post-2015 framework for disaster risk reduction and the post-2015 development agenda;

Stresses the need to foster better understanding and knowledge of the causes of disasters, as well as to build resilience and strengthen coping capacities, in particular in developing countries, through, inter alia, the exchange of best practices, technology transfer, as mutually agreed, and technical knowledge, educational and training programmes for disaster risk reduction, access to relevant data and information, the strengthening of institutional arrangements, the promotion of community participation, recognizing that women play a vital role in disaster risk reduction, ownership through community-based disaster risk management approaches and a people-centred, holistic approach, in order to build an inclusive society, and to protect livelihoods and productive assets, including livestock, working animals, tools and seeds;

Recognizes the importance of the development of strategies at the national, subregional, regional and international levels, including government-led strategies, in particular in developing countries, to achieve disaster risk reduction, reiterates the need to further develop regional initiatives and risk reduction capacities of regional mechanisms, where they exist, and to strengthen them within national disaster management planning, and requests the regional commissions, within their mandates, to support the efforts of States in this regard, in close coordination with the implementing entities of the United Nations system;

Welcomes the United Nations Plan of Action on Disaster Risk Reduction for Resilience as an important contribution in the implementation of the quadrennial comprehensive policy review of 2012, while requesting the secretariat of the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction as the coordinator of the Plan of Action to report on progress, bearing in mind agreed reporting provisions of the quadrennial comprehensive policy review;

Reiterates its deep appreciation for the offer of the Government of Japan to host the Third World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction, decides that the Conference will be held in Sendai, Japan, from 14 to 18 March 2015, and notes with appreciation the generous pledge made by the Government of Japan to cover costs of the Third World Conference and by the Government of Switzerland to host and to cover the costs of two meetings of the preparatory committee for the Conference;

Agrees that the Third World Conference will be convened at the highest possible level and will include a high-level segment;

Decides that the Third World Conference will result in a concise, focused, forward-looking and action-oriented outcome document and will have the following objectives:

To complete the assessment and review of the implementation of the Hyogo Framework for Action;

To consider the experience gained through the regional and national strategies/institutions and plans for disaster risk reduction and their recommendations as well as relevant regional agreements under the implementation of the Hyogo Framework for Action;

To adopt a post-2015 framework for disaster risk reduction;

To identify modalities of cooperation based on commitments to implement a post-2015 framework for disaster risk reduction;

To determine modalities for periodic review of the implementation of a post-2015 framework for disaster risk reduction;

Also decides to establish the Open-ended Intergovernmental Preparatory Committee for the Third World Conference to review the organizational and substantive preparations for the Conference, approve the programme of work of the Conference and propose rules of procedure for adoption by the Conference, and further decides that the Preparatory Committee will meet in Geneva in July and November 2014, for two days each time, and that it will hold a meeting at Sendai to be decided by the Preparatory Committee, as necessary;

Further decides to establish a Bureau consisting of two members of each regional group, and that Japan will serve as an ex officio member of the Bureau of the Open-ended Intergovernmental Preparatory Committee;

Invites regional groups to nominate their candidates for the 10-member Bureau of the Open-ended Intergovernmental Preparatory Committee no later than mid-February 2014, so that they can be involved in the preparations for the first meeting of the Preparatory Committee in advance;

Decides that the Third World Conference and the meetings of its Preparatory Committee shall provide for the full and effective participation of all States Members of the United Nations and members of specialized agencies, that the rules of procedure of the functional commissions of the Economic and Social Council, as well as the supplementary arrangements established for the Commission on Sustainable Development by the Council in its decisions 1993/215 of 12 February 1993 and 1995/201 of 8 February 1995, shall apply to the meetings of the Preparatory Committee, as applicable, and that the Preparatory Committee shall consider and adopt the provisional rules of procedure of the Conference, taking into consideration the established practice of the General Assembly, except as otherwise provided in the present resolution;

Urges international and bilateral donors, as well as the private sector, financial institutions, foundations and other donors in a position to do so, to support the preparations for the Third World Conference through voluntary contributions to the trust fund in support of global preparations for the Conference and to support the participation of representatives of developing countries in the meetings of the Preparatory Committee and in the Conference itself, priority being given to the least developed countries and small island developing States, including coverage of economy-class air tickets, daily subsistence allowance and terminal expenses;

Recognizes, in this context, the importance of the contributions and participation of all relevant stakeholders, including major groups, parliaments, civil society, the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, non-governmental organizations, national platforms for disaster risk reduction, focal points for the Hyogo Framework for Action, local government representatives, scientific institutions and the private sector, as well as organizations of the United Nations system and intergovernmental organizations, at the Third World Conference and its preparatory process, and at the same time requests the Secretary-General to ensure appropriate involvement of resident coordinators and country teams in preparations for the Conference, in particular in country- and regional-level preparations;

Decides that non-governmental organizations and other major groups whose work is relevant to the subject of the Third World Conference that are not currently accredited by the Economic and Social Council as non-governmental organizations, as well as those accredited to the third International Conference on Small Island Developing States, the World Summit on Sustainable Development, the International Meeting to Review the Implementation of the Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States, the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, the World Conference on Disaster Reduction, the four sessions of the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction and regional platforms and ministerial meetings on disaster risk reduction, may submit applications to participate as observers in the Conference, as well as its preparatory meetings, subject to the approval of the Preparatory Committee;

Stresses the importance of mainstreaming gender and disability perspectives in disaster risk management to strengthen the resilience of communities and reduce social vulnerabilities to disasters, and recognizes the need for the inclusive participation and contribution of women, as well as vulnerable people within groups such as children, older persons and persons with disabilities, to the Third World Conference and its preparatory process;

Recognizes the substantial loss of life and of the social, economic and environmental assets of communities and countries as a result of disasters;

Requests the organizations of the United Nations system, and invites the Bretton Woods institutions, the World Trade Organization and other relevant international and regional organizations, within their respective mandates, to provide necessary support and to actively contribute to the preparatory process and to the Third World Conference itself through inter-agency cooperation and effective participation and coherence within the United Nations system, as well as the efficient use of resources, so that the objectives of the Conference can be addressed;

Decides that the additional costs of the preparatory process and the Third World Conference itself should be funded through extrabudgetary resources, without negatively affecting programmed activities;

Requests the Secretariat to provide conference services for the preparatory process and the Third World Conference itself, the costs thereof to be borne by the host country, on the understanding that the Secretariat will ensure that its existing human resources are utilized to the maximum extent possible, without further charge to the host country;

Acknowledges the importance of the work of the United Nations in disaster risk reduction, the growing demands on the secretariat of the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction and the need for increased, timely, stable and predictable resources for the implementation of the International Strategy, and in this regard requests the Secretary-General to consider how best to support the implementation of the natural disaster reduction strategy, taking into account the important role played by the secretariat of the Strategy, with a view to ensuring adequate resources for its operation;

Expresses its appreciation to those countries that have provided financial support for the activities of the secretariat of the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction by making voluntary contributions to its trust fund;

Invites voluntary commitments by all stakeholders and their networks to implement the Hyogo Framework for Action as well as to support the development of the post-2015 framework for disaster risk reduction;

Requests the Secretary-General to bring the outcome of the Third World Conference to the attention of relevant international organizations, processes and forums;

Encourages the further implementation of all priorities for action of the Hyogo Framework for Action and, in particular, the carrying out of periodic risk assessments, the establishment of reliable disaster statistics, inter alia, a disaster loss database, and the dissemination of and ensured access to and availability of risk information, and, in order to assess outcomes, requests the Secretary-General to lead a review process on the 10 years of implementation of the Hyogo Framework;

Notes the importance of the periodic reviews of the Hyogo Framework for Action, and requests the Secretary-General to formulate proposals for effective periodic review mechanisms for the post-2015 framework for disaster risk reduction;

Decides to include in the provisional agenda of its sixty-ninth session, under the item entitled “Sustainable development”, the sub-item entitled “International Strategy for Disaster Reduction”;

Requests the Secretary-General to submit to the General Assembly at its sixty-ninth session a report on the implementation of the present resolution.

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