Today is International Day for Disaster Reduction

International Day for Disaster Reduction is being observed today under the theme ‘Knowledge for life’.

The United Nations (UN) General Assembly in 1989 designated the second Wednesday of October International Day for Natural Disaster Reduction. The International Day was to be observed annually during the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction, 1990-1999.

In December 2009, the General Assembly decided to designate 13 October as the date to commemorate the Day and to change the Day’s name to International Day for Disaster Reduction. The objective of the observance is to raise awareness of how people are taking action to reduce their risk to disasters.

According to the UN, the focus of this year’s International Day for Disaster Reduction is on the traditional, indigenous and local knowledge which complement modern science and add to an individual’s and societies’ resilience. For example, knowledge of early warning signals in nature can be vital to ensuring early action is taken to mitigate the impact of both slow and fast onset disasters such as droughts, heatwaves, storms and floods, the UN said. Combined with scientific knowledge such as reports generated by meteorologists, local knowledge is vital for preparedness and can be passed on from generation to generation, the organisation added.

In a message to mark the occasion, UN Secretary-General called for the recognition of the efforts of communities which put their wisdom to use in reducing disaster risk and sharing their precious “knowledge for life”.

“This year’s observance of the International Day for Disaster Reduction is dedicated to the power of traditional, indigenous and local knowledge,”the Secretary-General said.