PURPOSE AND SCOPE OF IDRC Davos 2006

To achieve risk-resilient, sustainable societies, the management of unexpected events such as natural hazards, diseases, man-made hazards and terrorism need to be approached in an integrated way. It is no longer adequate for risk management professionals to focus solely on risk within a particular realm. Rather, in a complex world with interdependent systems, risk management must have a new vision, one that reaches across disciplines and departments to allow better planning, response, and reduction of the most pressing risks facing communities. Emerging trends from risk management confirm the perception of the general public: the world we live in today is more complex, less certain, and more interdependent than any time before in history. These messages have been highlighted at the World Conference for Disaster Risk Reduction held in Kobe, Japan in January 2005 (WCDR 2005).

The International Disaster Reduction Conference IDRC Davos 2006, to be held from August 27 to September 1, will push forward the vision of WCDR 2005 and will deepen the understanding of what is needed to mainstream and integrate risk management across fields. IDRC Davos 2006 will focus attention of WCDR’s priorities (see box below), while involving a wider group of risk management experts, practitioners, decision makers, and scientists with a strong emphasis on implementation at “the last mile”. The conference in Davos will thus contribute to the UN international strategy for disaster reduction, and strengthen links between participants from different areas of risk management while adding the lessons and new knowledge gained from recent complex disasters such as the December 2004 tsunami, the Hurricanes Katrina and Rita with flooding in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast of the USA, Hurricane Stan and the flooding and mudflows in the middle Americas, the earthquake in Pakistan and the threat of an avian flu pandemic.

PRIORITY AREAS HYOGO FRAMEWORK FOR ACTION 2005-2015 Building the Resilience of Nations and Communities to Disasters

The World Conference on Disaster Reduction (www.unisdr.org/wcdr), held in Kobe Japan in January of 2005, achieved consensus on the following risk management and risk reduction priorities.

Risk governance: Ensure that disaster risk reduction is a national and local priority with strong institutional basis for implementation.
Risk analysis and assessment: Identify, assess, and monitor disaster risks.
Preparedness: Strengthen disaster preparedness for effective response at all levels, enhance early warning systems.
Culture of safety: Use knowledge, innovation, and education to build a culture of safety and resilience at all levels. Reduce underlying risk factors: Identify those variables latent in society and the environment that contribute to risk, and ways that these variables can be mitigated.

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Posted by rjorr at August 27, 2006 10:15 PM