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The Secretary-General
Message for the International Day for Natural Disaster Reduction 2003
"This theme reminds us, during the International Year of Freshwater,
that the task is not just to preserve water resources to sustain life, but
also to reduce the capacity of water to take life away. More than 90 per
cent of all disasters occurring around the world today are related to
water - either too little of it, in the case of droughts, or too much of
it, in the case of floods, landslides, cyclones, hurricanes and typhoons.
Many communities suffer repeated disasters year after year.
Natural hazards are a
part of life. But hazards only become disasters when people's lives and
livelihoods are swept away. The vulnerability of communities is growing
due to human activities that lead to increased poverty, greater urban
density, environmental degradation and climate change.
It is well within our
power to do something about this. Better decision-making, improved
planning, effective risk management, innovation in development and
environmental protection activities - these are the human activities
that can reduce the vulnerability of communities. To this end, risk
assessment and disaster reduction should be integral parts of all
sustainable development projects and policies.
On the International Day for Disaster Reduction, let us
remind ourselves that we can and must reduce the number and impact of
disasters by building sustainable communities that have the long-term
capacity to live with risk."
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