Bangkok--8 Oct--UNISBKK To mark the International Day for Disaster Reduction and the ASEAN Day for Disaster Management , the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR) and the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) will organize two main events on Wednesday, 8 October to raise awareness of the importance of safer communities against disasters in the Asia-Pacific region. First, the ASEAN will award a prize to three winners of the regional drawing competition. Children from Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Viet Nam were invited to draw or paint a disaster resilient hospital, school or house which could contribute to make their communities better protected against disasters. Members of the press will have opportunities to view the submitted drawings in an exhibition and to interview a group of schoolchildren at the award ceremony. On the same occasion, members of the press will be also invited to attend a panel discussion on hospital and school safety. The panel discussion will open with messages from the UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon and the ASEAN Secretary-General, Surin Pitsuwan and will be followed by short presentations made by representatives from the ASEAN, WHO and Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC). The panel discussion will take place between 9:30 a.m. and 12:00 p.m. on Wednesday, 8 October, at Office of the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation, 3/12 U — Thong Nok Road, Dusit, Bangkok 10300, Thailand, Tel. (66 — 2) 2430040, 2432179, 2432211 The ASEAN and UNISDR are co-organizing the event with the support of the World Health Organization (WHO), and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN/ESCAP) For more information, please contact: UN Information Services, ESCAP Tel.: +66-2-288-1862 Fax: +66-2-288-1052 Email: [email protected]