Bangkok--24 Dec--UNISBKK
Statement by Noeleen Heyzer United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) on the five-year anniversary of the Indian Ocean tsunami This Saturday we remember the tragedy of five years ago, when a series of massive tsunami waves struck coasts around the Indian Ocean. The region was caught off guard as most people were unaware that a tsunami threat even existed. The result was a disaster with one of the highest human costs in living memory, and one that will not be forgotten in our lifetimes.
Following the disaster, people around the world came together to support the survivors and rebuild areas that had been devastated. To prepare for the future, countries in the region and international partners have also been working intensively to develop and strengthen early warning systems.
An important part of this effort is to improve the knowledge of coastal communities about the risks they face and how to respond to them.
Among many other initiatives, the Governments of Thailand and Sweden have made generous contributions to a multi-donor trust fund administered by the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), which supports this work. The trust fund-supported activities have balanced a number of aspects of early warning, including:
Using scientific risk maps for community planning and preparedness;
Establishing Standard Operating Procedures for countries;
Building depositories of education and awareness materials that are used in regular national programmes; and Developing monitoring and warning services that provide effective
support to lower capacity countries.
Five years on, countries in the region have access to regional tsunami advisory information, and many countries are able to detect tsunamis and issue warnings, but significant gaps remain to be addressed. Disaster warnings save lives only if they reach the people at risk and are acted on.
This remains a huge challenge. In many places, people may receive warnings but still lack shelters to which they can move.
In addition, some heavily populated coasts of Asia are at risk from a major tsunami but have not experienced one recently. It is essential to support tsunami awareness and preparedness in these areas.
The Asia-Pacific region suffers heavily from disasters every year. In 2008, there were well over 200,000 disaster fatalities. Of these, nearly 150,000 were a result of water-related disasters such as tropical cyclones and floods.
The cost of disasters can be greatly reduced if we are prepared for them.
Well-functioning early warning systems and drills inform people about the risks they face and how to respond. Effective town planning ensures facilities — especially critical ones like schools and hospitals — are located outside high-risk zones. Such prescriptions are captured in efforts like the Hyogo Framework for Action, a result of a United Nations General
Assembly decision to update an international framework on disaster
reduction. The plan provides a good strategy for substantially reducing the loss of lives as well as the social, economic and environmental assets of countries; what we need is further implementation.
We won’t know when the next major tsunami in the Indian Ocean will strike.
But by learning from disaster response, recovery and preparedness efforts, we can ensure that our future is a safer one.
For more information please contact:
Mr. Edgar Dante
ESCAP Programme Management Division
Tel: +66-2-288-1714
Email:
[email protected]
Mr. Mitch Hsieh
UN/ESCAP Information Services
Tel: +66-2 288-1862
Email:
[email protected]
Commemorating 60 years in Thailand
1949 - 2009