A global review of disaster reduction initiatives - Welcome to the ...

1Living with Risk: A global review of disaster reduction initiatives(b) the Inter-Agency Task Force on DisasterReduction (IATF/DR)The Task Force was established in2000 as the main forum within theUnited Nations system for devisingstrategies and policies for thereduction of natural hazards. It isalso tasked with identifying what islacking to improve disaster reductionpolicies and programmes andrecommending remedial actionwith particular attention to ensuringcomplementary action by thedifferent United Nations agenciesinvolved in disaster reduction.The Task Force is chaired by theUnder-Secretary General forHumanitarian Affairs of the UnitedNations and is composed of upto 14 representatives of agenciesand organizations of the UnitedNations system; up to eight representativesfrom regional entitiesand up to eight representatives ofcivil society and relevant professionalsectors. The Director of theISDR secretariat acts as the Secretaryof the Task Force.The Task Force has establishedfour Working Groups to work onclimate variability, early warning,vulnerability and risk analysis, andwild-land fires. More details ontheir work are outlined in otherchapters of this review.The Task Force has since its firstmeeting expressed interest in pursuingadditional areas, as opportunitiesallow. These includedrought, ecosystem management,land-use planning, integrating disasterreduction issues into sustainabledevelopment and nationalplanning agendas, raising the politicalprofile of disaster reduction orexploring private and public sectorpartnerships.Framework for action for the implementation ofthe ISDRThe IATF/DR, supported by the secretariat, hasformulated a framework for action for the implementationof the ISDR with four main objectives:• Increase public awareness to understand risk,vulnerability and disaster reduction.• Promote the commitment of public authoritiesto disaster reduction.• Stimulate multidisciplinary and intersectoralpartnerships, including the expansion of riskreduction networks.• Improve scientific knowledge about the causesof natural disasters, as well as the effectsthat natural hazards and related technologicaland environmental disasters have on societies.The framework also incorporates two additionalactivities specifically mandated to the ISDR secretariatby the United Nations General Assembly:• Continue international co-operation to reducethe impact of El Niño and other climate variations.• Strengthen disaster reduction capacitiesthrough the development of early warningsystems.In pursuing these objectives, the framework foraction outlines the following areas of commonconcern:• Incorporating the recognition of the specialvulnerability of the poor in disaster reductionstrategies• Environmental, social and economic vulnerabilityassessment with special reference tohealth and food security;• Ecosystems management, with particularattention given to the implementation ofAgenda 21;• Land use management and planning, includingappropriate land use in at-risk rural,mountain and coastal areas, as well asunplanned urban areas in megacities and secondarycities;• National, regional and international legislationwith respect to disaster reduction.20