International Day for Disaster Reduction 2018: UNU-IAS and UNISDR Office in Japan

The United Nations General Assembly has designated 13 October as the date to celebrate the International Day for Disaster Reduction (IDDR) to promote a global culture of disaster reduction, including disaster prevention, mitigation and preparedness. Since it began more than 25 years ago, the day has grown into a major global awareness event celebrated in many ways to encourage efforts to build more disaster-resilient communities and nations.

This symposium will be organized to mark the International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction. This is the third year of the Sendai Seven Campaign, which uses International Day for Disaster Reduction to draw attention to the seven targets of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030, which was adopted as a global plan to reduce disaster losses by UN Member States. The overall theme of the International Day for Disaster Reduction (IDDR) in 2018 is reducing the economic loss of disasters which is Target (c) of the Sendai Framework.

The symposium aims to discuss the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030 under the sub-theme of reducing the economic loss of disasters.

The soaring rise in economic losses from extreme weather events are fueled by climate change. Economic losses from disasters in low and middle-income countries are undermining efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals and deprive governments of funds to spend on health, education, social protection and other important public needs. Every year disasters cost the global economy an estimated US$520 billion, displacing millions of people and pushing many of them into poverty. Reducing economic losses from disasters has the power to transform lives and this will be the focus of this year’s International Day for Disaster Reduction.

Focusing on the economic losses resulting from extreme weather events and other hazards, will help to bring home to policymakers and those in charge of major investments in critical infrastructure, the importance of ensuring that those investment decisions are risk-informed. If it’s not risk informed, it’s not sustainable. And if it’s not sustainable then it has a human cost. Those costs are evident in the chronic level of disaster displacement around the world. Last year an estimated 18 million people were displaced by extreme weather events.

Economic losses from disasters are a serious brake on sustainable development and efforts to eradicate poverty. There are many countries which are struggling to cope with recurring losses, particularly those who are bearing the brunt of climate change and experiencing extreme weather events which destroy critical infrastructure, disrupt agriculture and lead to displacement and migration, and loss of livelihoods. This is a critical issue when enormous sums are expected to flow into urban development in the coming decades. Some 60% of the area expected to be urbanized by 2030 remains to be built.

It is crucial to ensure risk-sensitive development and reduce economic losses from disasters. For brainstorming these critical subjects, the symposium will have two key note presentations and three short presentations which are followed by the panel discussion composed of the multi-stakeholders, including local government, civil society, private sector etc.