General Assembly

Distr. GENERAL  

11 December 1987

ORIGINAL:
ENGLISH

                                                 A/RES/42/169
                                                 96th plenary meeting
                                                 11 December 1987
 
         International decade for natural disaster reduction
 
     The General Assembly,
 
     Recalling its resolution 3345 (XXIX) of l7 December 1974, in which it
requested the Secretary-General to take appropriate measures to provide
facilities for co-ordinated multidisciplinary research also at the regional
level aimed at synthesizing, integrating and advancing existing knowledge on
the relationships between population, resources, environment and development,
in order to assist Member States, particularly the developing countries, and
the organizations of the United Nations system in their efforts to cope with
the complex and multidimensional problems related to this field in the context
of social and economic development,
 
     Noting with appreciation the important contribution made by the World
Commission on Environment and Development, as reflected in its report,
which calls for new national and international approaches in dealing with the
various factors affecting the environment, including natural disasters,
 
     Considering that natural disasters, such as earthquakes, windstorms
(cyclones, hurricanes, tornadoes, typhoons), tsunamis, floods, landslides,
volcanic eruptions, wildfires and other calamities of natural origin, have
claimed about 3 million lives worldwide in the past two decades, adversely
affected the lives of at least 800 million more people and resulted in
immediate damages exceeding $23 billion,
 
     Considering also that, among disasters of natural origin, drought and
desertification are resulting in enormous damage, particularly in Africa,
where the recent drought threatened the lives of more than 20 million people
and uprooted millions of others,
 
     Recognizing that the effects of such disasters may damage very severely
the fragile economic infrastructure of developing countries, especially the
least developed, land-locked and island developing countries, and thus hamper
their development process,
 
     Recalling the report of the Secretary-General on the work of the
Organization, particularly the section concerning natural disasters and the
merits of proposals that have been made to stimulate international study,
planning and preparations on this subject over the next decade under the
auspices of the United Nations,
 
     Also taking note with appreciation of the report of the Secretary-General
concerning the existing mechanisms and arrangements within the United Nations
system for disaster and emergency assistance and co-ordination,
 
     Recognizing the responsibility of the United Nations system for promoting
international co-operation in the study of natural disasters of geophysical
origin and in the development of techniques to mitigate risks arising
therefrom, as well as for co-ordinating disaster relief, preparedness and
prevention, including prediction and early warning,
 
     Convinced that concerted international action for the reduction of
natural disasters over the course of the 1990s would give genuine impetus to a
series of concrete measures at the national, regional and international
levels,
 
     Recognizing that the primary responsibility for defining the general
goals and directions of efforts undertaken in the framework of an
international decade for natural disaster reduction and for implementing the
measures that would result from the activities of the decade lies with the
Governments of the countries concerned,
 
     Considering that the concept of a global programme for natural disaster
reduction is predicated on collaborative efforts among culturally and
economically diverse nations, together with relevant organizations of the
United Nations system and concerned national and international
non-governmental organizations, including scientific and technological
institutions,
 
     1.   Recognizes the importance of reducing the impact of natural
disasters for all people, and in particular for developing countries;
 
     2.   Recognizes further that scientific and technical understanding of
the causes and impact of natural disasters and of ways to reduce both human
and property losses has progressed to such an extent that a concerted effort
to assemble, disseminate and apply this knowledge through national, regional
and world-wide programmes could have very positive effects in this regard,
particularly for developing countries;
 
     3.   Decides to designate the 1990s as a decade in which the
international community, under the auspices of the United Nations, will pay
special attention to fostering international co-operation in the field of
natural disaster reduction, and to take a decision at its forty-third session
on the content and modalities of United Nations participation therein after
having considered the report of the Secretary-General referred to in
paragraph 9 of the present resolution;
 
     4.   Decides that the objective of this decade is to reduce through
concerted international actions, especially in developing countries, loss of
life, property damage and social and economic disruption caused by natural
disasters, such as earthquakes, windstorms (cyclones, hurricanes, tornadoes,
typhoons), tsunamis, floods, landslides, volcanic eruptions, wildfires and
other calamities of natural origin, such as grasshopper and locust
infestations, and that its goals are:
 
     (a)  To improve the capacity of each country to mitigate the effects of
natural disasters expeditiously and effectively, paying special attention to
assisting developing countries in the establishment, when needed, of early
warning systems;
 
     (b)  To devise appropriate guidelines and strategies for applying
existing knowledge, taking into account the cultural and economic diversity
among nations;
 
     (c)  To foster scientific and engineering endeavours aimed at closing
critical gaps in knowledge in order to reduce loss of life and property;
 
     (d)  To disseminate existing and new information related to measures for
the assessment, prediction, prevention and mitigation of natural disasters;
 
     (e)  To develop measures for the assessment, prediction, prevention and
mitigation of natural disasters through programmes of technical assistance and
technology transfer, demonstration projects, and education and training,
tailored to specific hazards and locations, and to evaluate the effectiveness
of those programmes;
 
     5.   Requests the Secretary-General, in co-operation with the appropriate
organizations of the United Nations system and relevant scientific, technical,
academic and other non-governmental organizations, to develop an appropriate
framework for attaining the objective and goals referred to in paragraphs 3
and 4 above and to submit a report thereon to the General Assembly at its
forty-fourth session through the Economic and Social Council;
 
     6.   Recommends that, if necessary, extrabudgetary resources be provided
for the preparation of the above-mentioned report and considers that, for this
purpose, voluntary contributions from countries, international organizations
and other organizations are highly desirable;
 
     7.   Calls upon all Governments to participate during the decade for
concerted international action for the reduction of natural disasters and, as
appropriate, to establish national committees, in co-operation with the
relevant scientific and technological communities, with a view to surveying
available mechanisms and facilities for the reduction of natural hazards,
assessing the particular requirements of their respective countries or regions
in order to add to, improve or update existing mechanisms and facilities and
develop a strategy to attain the desired goals;
 
     8.   Further calls upon Governments to keep the Secretary-General
informed of their countries' plans and of assistance that can be provided so
that the United Nations may become an international centre for the exchange of
information, the storing of documents and the co-ordination of international
efforts concerning the activities in support of the objective and goals
referred to in paragraphs 3 and 4 above, thus enabling each Member State to
benefit from the experience of other countries;
 
     9.   Requests the Secretary-General to report to the General Assembly at
its forty-third session on progress made in the preparations outlined above
with particular emphasis on defining the catalytic and facilitating role
envisaged for the United Nations system.