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

6Living with Risk: A global review of disaster reduction initiativesthe Rio Earth Summit, the UN InternationalConference on Water and the Environment(ICWE) was held in January 1992. TheDublin Statement (www.wmo.ch/web/homs/documents/english/icwedece.html) on Waterand Sustainable Development establishes fourguiding principles, as well as an agenda foraction, which have guided academic and politicaldiscussions ever since.One of the recommendations relates to theWorld Water Assessment ProgrammeThe World Water Assessment Programme/World WaterDevelopment Report (WWAP/WWDR), is administeredby UNESCO, and is a UN-wide effort, set up upon therequest of governments, to pool UN resources regardingworld water management. WWAP will assist developingcountries to strengthen their capacity to assess their ownwater situation. The WWDR will target all thoseinvolved in the formulation and implementation ofwater-related policies and investments.More information is available at:www.unesco.org/water/wwapprotection against natural disasters, and callsfor proactive measures to reverse the currenttrends. In particular, the Dublin Statementidentifies climate change and sea level rise asfactors that would exacerbate disaster risk,"threatening the apparent security of existingwater resources". Chapter 18 of Agenda 21covered the "protection of the quality andsupply of freshwater resources: application ofintegrated approaches to the developmentmanagement and use of water resources" withample reference to disasters and hydrologicalextreme events.implement these commonly agreed principles. Forexample, the WMO, has set out to promote floodmanagement activities in the context of IntegratedWater Resources Management (IWRM).The reduction of vulnerability to floods anddroughts will have to be included in the manyfacets of the freshwater agenda. These includethe integration of all stakeholders in river basinmanagement, the institutional framework toeffectively manage water demand and internationaltrade arrangements, which respectnational water regulations. Such watermanagement processes need to go hand inhand with an increased delegation of responsibilityand means to local authorities.At a global level, the upcoming WSSD, theUnited Nations International Freshwater Year2003, as well as the third World Water Forum,to be held in March 2003, will provide opportunitiesto further develop these concepts.Research in support of Integrated WaterResource Management and ComprehensiveDisaster Risk Management .WADI (Water-related Disasters) is a recentresearch initiative of the Potsdam Institutefor Climate Impact Research (PIK) thatresponds directly to humankind's increasingvulnerability to water-related disasters.It provides a scientific basis for adaptationand mitigation options for sustainable transitionprograms that are developed inconjunction with the various stakeholders.See more at: www.pink-potsdam.de296More recently, in March 2000, the SecondWorld Water Forum, launched the World WaterVision and a Ministerial Declaration on WaterSecurity in the 21st Century was developed.The declaration identifies seven challenges forthe global community, including the "managementof risk - to provide security from floods,droughts, pollution and other water relatedhazards."A vast body of knowledge exists on water management,and flood and drought management inparticular. An increasing focus in local, nationaland international programs is on best ways toThe gender agendaFourth World Conference on Women andfollow-upThe Beijing Platform for Action, adopted atthe Fourth World Conference on Women(1995) recognised that many women areparticularly affected by environmental disasters,disease and violence. It requested governmentsto "promote knowledge of and sponsorresearch on the role of women, particularlyrural and indigenous women, in food gathering