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OAS official says disaster reduction strategies must be a priority in the Americas

Source(s): Organization of American States
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Press Release: E-577/11

The Assistant Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), Ambassador Albert Ramdin, says the increase in the number and intensity of natural disasters taking place around the world should cause governments of the Americas to expedite disaster risk reduction strategies.

Speaking at the second session of the Regional Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction in the Americas in Nuevo Vallarta, Mexico, this week, the OAS official said, “We cannot ignore or avoid the natural disasters happening everywhere. We can, and indeed we must, prepare for these events to the best of our abilities.”

According to Assistant Secretary General Ramdin, politicians and legislators in the Americas must acknowledge the risk to peace, stability, prosperity, security and ultimately to democracy, if they are unable to adopt and enforce risk reduction strategies, to deal with natural disasters. “Political will and commitment at the highest level is critical on this issue. Experiences of the recent past have demonstrated that if we are prepared it is possible to mitigate effectively the impact of natural hazards. Let us learn from all the expensive and painful lessons and act with vigilance and resilience, not with complacency,” said Ramdin.

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Themes Governance Disaster risk management
Country and region Albania
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