To succeed, disaster management strategies must target, reduce inequalities, vulnerabilities faced by poor, UN Economic and Social Council told
Economic and Social Council 2008 Substantive Session
31st & 32nd Meetings (AM & PM)
Three Day Humanitarian Affairs Segment Continues;
Panel: Addressing Consequences of Natural Disasters, Including Climate Change
Disaster-relief experts from United Nations and international humanitarian agencies today warned the Economic and Social Council that disaster management strategies would not be successful if they did not target -- and reduce -- the inequalities and vulnerabilities poor people faced, especially since they would be the “first and worst” affected as the climate changes.
As the Council continued the humanitarian affairs segment of its 2008 session with a panel discussion on “Disaster risk reduction and preparedness: addressing the humanitarian consequences of natural disasters, including the impact of climate change”, experts called for innovative strategies that reduced poor people’s vulnerabilities and strengthened their resilience.
The participants stressed that such people-centred action should be long-term, flexible and crafted with Governments drawing on civil society expertise and the first-hand knowledge of the poor themselves. This exercise should also pave the way for necessary cooperation among the diverse actors working in the field of disaster relief -- humanitarian, environmental, and sustainable development.
Chaired by Council Vice-President Park In-kook (Republic of Korea) and moderated by Catherine Bragg, Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator, the panel featured: Barbara Carby, Director, Hazard Management, Cayman Islands; Madeleen Helmer, Head of the Climate Centre, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies; Mostafa Mohaghegh, Head of the Regional Office for West Asia and North Africa, International Strategy for Disaster Reduction; Phil Bloomer, Campaigns and Policy Director, Oxfam, Great Britain; and Walter Kälin, Representative of the Secretary-General on the Human Rights of Internally Displaced Persons.