[World Tsunami Awareness Day] Making Cities Resilient 2030: Effective international cooperation to reduce tsunami risk at the local level
- English
Overview
Tsunamis pose a massive threat to lives, livelihoods, homes, businesses and a community’s overall economic, social, and environmental wellbeing and resilience. While rare, when they do occur, tsunamis are the deadliest of all hazards. Over the past 100 years, 58 tsunamis have claimed more than 260,000 lives. This is an average of 4,600 deaths per disaster.
Tsunami risk is not only a major stand-alone risk: It increasingly interacts with other risk drivers, such as unplanned urbanization, poverty, and rising inequality. This can result in one hazard triggering another, prompting negative impacts to cascade across systems and borders.
This makes tsunami risk reduction a priority for coastal communities in seismically active zones. It also represents an opportunity for international cooperation to make a real difference and to effectively support local policy, governance, investment, and action to strengthen tsunami resilience. Reducing tsunami risk is an investment and not a cost. This investment delivers the biggest dividend at the municipal level: It protects lives and livelihoods and keeps people out of disaster-induced poverty.
This Session will:
- Showcase examples of practical and effective tsunami risk reduction in action
- Highlight the important role of school children in local effort to reduce tsunami risk
- Illustrate how inclusive, and networked global collaboration can support local efforts to reduce tsunami risk
World Tsunami Awareness Day
Six years ago, the United Nations General Assembly designated 5 November as World Tsunami Awareness Day. The General Assembly invited all Member States, the United Nations system, international and regional organizations, as well as civil society, to observe World Tsunami Awareness Day each year and raise awareness of the risk posed by tsunamis.
World Tsunami Awareness Day 2021 links with the recent International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction on 13 October, which focused on Target F) of the Sendai Framework. Target F) aims to substantially enhance international cooperation to developing countries for disaster risk reduction.
Sendai Framework Target F measures more than financial flows. It includes support for capacity building, including statistical capacities, as well as transfer and exchange of science, technology, and innovation in disaster risk reduction.
Making Cities Resilient 2030
MCR2030 is a long-term global partnership that supports urban areas to be more inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable. It accelerates progress against Sustainable Development Goal 11 as well as other global frameworks including the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, the Paris Agreement, and the New Urban Agenda. It aims to leave no city behind or alone.
MCR2030 is focused on implementation and action to reduce disaster and climate risk. It helps cities to develop their own vision of disaster resilience and progress towards this via a clear 3-stage roadmap. Along this journey, MCR2030 provides access to tools, knowledge, networks, services, and resources to support cities to strengthen their resilience.
MCR2030 was launched by the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) along with 10 other core partners: C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group; ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability; International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC); Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA); Resilient Cities Network; United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG); United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT); United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS); World Bank; and the World Council on City Data (WCCD).
Time
3:00 - 4:00 p.m. (GMT+9)
For more information:
- Andrew Mcelroy, Programme Management Officer, UNDRR at mcelroy@un.org