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 itrequested the Secretary-General to take
appropriate measures to providefacilities for co-ordinated
multidisciplinary research also at the regionallevel aimed at
synthesizing, integrating and advancing existing knowledge onthe
relationships between population, resources, environment and
development,in order to assist Member States, particularly the
developing countries, andthe organizations of the United Nations
system in their efforts to cope withthe complex and
multidimensional problems related to this field in the contextof
social and economic development, Noting with appreciation the
important contribution made by the WorldCommission on Environment
and Development, as reflected in its report,which calls for new
national and international approaches in dealing with thevarious
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, haveclaimed about 3 million lives
worldwide in the past two decades, adverselyaffected the lives of
at least 800 million more people and resulted inimmediate damages
exceeding $23 billion, Considering also that, among disasters
of natural origin, drought anddesertification are resulting in
enormous damage, particularly in Africa,where the recent drought
threatened the lives of more than 20 million peopleand uprooted
millions of others, Recognizing that the effects of such
disasters may damage very severelythe fragile economic
infrastructure of developing countries, especially theleast
developed, land-locked and island developing countries, and thus
hampertheir development process, Recalling the report of the
Secretary-General on the work of theOrganization, particularly the
section concerning natural disasters and themerits of proposals
that have been made to stimulate international study,planning and
preparations on this subject over the next decade under theauspices
of the United Nations, Also taking note with appreciation of
the report of the Secretary-Generalconcerning the existing
mechanisms and arrangements within the United Nationssystem for
disaster and emergency assistance and co-ordination,
Recognizing the responsibility of the United Nations system for
promotinginternational co-operation in the study of natural
disasters of geophysicalorigin and in the development of techniques
to mitigate risks arisingtherefrom, as well as for co-ordinating
disaster relief, preparedness andprevention, including prediction
and early warning, Convinced that concerted international
action for the reduction ofnatural disasters over the course of the
1990s would give genuine impetus to aseries of concrete measures at
the national, regional and internationallevels, Recognizing
that the primary responsibility for defining the generalgoals and
directions of efforts undertaken in the framework of
aninternational decade for natural disaster reduction and for
implementing themeasures that would result from the activities of
the decade lies with theGovernments of the countries concerned,
Considering that the concept of a global programme for natural
disasterreduction is predicated on collaborative efforts among
culturally andeconomically diverse nations, together with relevant
organizations of theUnited Nations system and concerned national
and internationalnon-governmental organizations, including
scientific and technologicalinstitutions, 1. Recognizes the
importance of reducing the impact of naturaldisasters for all
people, and in particular for developing countries; 2.
Recognizes further that scientific and technical understanding
ofthe causes and impact of natural disasters and of ways to reduce
both humanand property losses has progressed to such an extent that
a concerted effortto assemble, disseminate and apply this knowledge
through national, regionaland 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 theinternational community, under the auspices of the United
Nations, will payspecial attention to fostering international
co-operation in the field ofnatural disaster reduction, and to take
a decision at its forty-third sessionon the content and modalities
of United Nations participation therein afterhaving considered the
report of the Secretary-General referred to inparagraph 9 of the
present resolution; 4. Decides that the objective of this
decade is to reduce throughconcerted international actions,
especially in developing countries, loss oflife, property damage
and social and economic disruption caused by naturaldisasters, such
as earthquakes, windstorms (cyclones, hurricanes,
tornadoes,typhoons), tsunamis, floods, landslides, volcanic
eruptions, wildfires andother calamities of natural origin, such as
grasshopper and locustinfestations, and that its goals are:
(a) To improve the capacity of each country to mitigate the
effects ofnatural disasters expeditiously and effectively, paying
special attention toassisting developing countries in the
establishment, when needed, of earlywarning systems; (b) To
devise appropriate guidelines and strategies for applyingexisting
knowledge, taking into account the cultural and economic
diversityamong nations; (c) To foster scientific and
engineering endeavours aimed at closingcritical gaps in knowledge
in order to reduce loss of life and property; (d) To
disseminate existing and new information related to measures forthe
assessment, prediction, prevention and mitigation of natural
disasters; (e) To develop measures for the assessment,
prediction, prevention andmitigation of natural disasters through
programmes of technical assistance andtechnology transfer,
demonstration projects, and education and training,tailored to
specific hazards and locations, and to evaluate the effectivenessof
those programmes; 5. Requests the Secretary-General, in
co-operation with the appropriateorganizations of the United
Nations system and relevant scientific, technical,academic and
other non-governmental organizations, to develop an
appropriateframework for attaining the objective and goals referred
to in paragraphs 3and 4 above and to submit a report thereon to the
General Assembly at itsforty-fourth session through the Economic
and Social Council; 6. Recommends that, if necessary,
extrabudgetary resources be providedfor the preparation of the
above-mentioned report and considers that, for thispurpose,
voluntary contributions from countries, international
organizationsand other organizations are highly desirable; 7.
Calls upon all Governments to participate during the decade
forconcerted international action for the reduction of natural
disasters and, asappropriate, to establish national committees, in
co-operation with therelevant scientific and technological
communities, with a view to surveyingavailable mechanisms and
facilities for the reduction of natural hazards,assessing the
particular requirements of their respective countries or regionsin
order to add to, improve or update existing mechanisms and
facilities anddevelop a strategy to attain the desired goals;
8. Further calls upon Governments to keep the
Secretary-Generalinformed of their countries' plans and of
assistance that can be provided sothat the United Nations may
become an international centre for the exchange ofinformation, the
storing of documents and the co-ordination of internationalefforts
concerning the activities in support of the objective and
goalsreferred to in paragraphs 3 and 4 above, thus enabling each
Member State tobenefit from the experience of other countries;
9. Requests the Secretary-General to report to the General
Assembly atits forty-third session on progress made in the
preparations outlined abovewith particular emphasis on defining the
catalytic and facilitating roleenvisaged for the United Nations
system.
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