World disaster reduction conference to discuss Indian Ocean tsunami disaster

The United Nations World Conference on Disaster Reduction kicked off Tuesday in Kobe,Japan with the recent Indian Ocean tsunami disaster standing as a hot item at the meeting.

The conference observed a moment of silence for the victims of Indian Ocean tsunami.

At the five-day conference, more than 4,000 participants are expected to work out a program of action for the next 10 years, containing strategic goals and priorities, to realize the substantial reduction of disaster losses in lives and in the social, economic and environmental assets of communities and countries.

A Conference Declaration will be adopted at the meeting.

The conference will hold two extra sessions to review the sweeping catastrophe that has killed more than 160,000 people in nations ranging from Asia to Africa.

At Thursday's special session, senior government officials fromtsunami-stricken countries and other UN members will discuss issues related to early warning system, preparedness and coastal recovery and other options which can be applied regionally and globally. It will be preceded by a technical session on the promotion of tsunami mitigation in the Indian Ocean.

In a video broadcast on the scene, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said, "Rarely has a tragedy made a conference so topical and timely as this one," referring to the tsunami disaster in Asia.

"We must draw and act on every lesson we can, and prevent such tragedies occurring in the future," he said.

Addressing the opening ceremony, Jan Egeland, UN under-secretary general for Humanitarian Affairs, said, "The best way wecan honor the dead is to protect the living. We must meet today totake on this challenge with renewed urgency and vigor, knowing that we must translate words into deeds, and good intentions into concrete action."

The poor were particularly vulnerable, for the lack of resources to withstand and recover from natural disasters, he said.

He also urged to put more money in disaster reduction, saying that "it is not an additional expense, but an essential investment."

"The benefit of the cost will be calculated not only in dollarsor euros or yen ,but most importantly in lives in every corner of the global," he said.

After the conference ends on Saturday, an ad hoc meeting will be held to review and coordinate plans and activities on developing tsunami early warning systems, particularly for the next 12 months in the Indian Ocean region.

Experts put the cost for an early warning system at about 20 million US dollars, saying that it could be in place in less than a year if there is a smooth international cooperation.

The previous such a meeting was held in May 1994 in Yokohama, Japan. At that time, the participants adopted the "Yokohama Strategy and Plan of Action for a Safer World", a guideline document which highlighted the importance of disaster prevention and preparedness as well as the early warnings of disasters.

The conference coincided with the 10th anniversary of the Hanshin earthquake in Kobe and surrounding areas. More than 6,400 people perished in the tremor.

Japan's Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko attended the ceremony. And Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi is scheduled to deliver the host country statement in the afternoon.

Since 1994, 478,100 people across the world have been killed innatural and technological disasters, with more than 2.5 billion people effected, according to the document issued at the conference. The economic losses were about 690 billion dollars.

In terms of regions, Asia continued to be the most affected continent, accounting for more than half of the casualties and over 90 percent of the affected people.

Among all disasters, floods and earthquakes were the deadliest natural hazards during the decade, liable for 50 percent of the total casualties.

Source: Xinhua