What was the UN International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction?

The United Nations General Assembly designated the 1990s as the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction to minimize loss of life and property damage from natural hazards. Its core objective was to coordinate global efforts against disasters like earthquakes, floods, and droughts. This initiative also led to the creation of an annual observance day to promote a worldwide culture of prevention and preparedness.

What we know

• The United Nations General Assembly designated the 1990s as the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction. [2]
• The basic objective of the decade was to decrease loss of life, property destruction, and disruption caused by natural disasters such as earthquakes, tsunamis, floods, volcanic eruptions, and droughts. [2]
• The UN General Assembly originally designated October 13 as International Day for Natural Disaster Reduction as part of proclaiming the decade. [3]

Where to go next

• whenHow did disaster risk reduction evolve after the 1990s?
• what followedWhat is the International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction?
• the bigger pictureWhat organization coordinates modern international disaster reduction efforts?
• how it workedWhat methods make communities resilient to natural hazards?
• what caused itHow does climate change impact global disaster risks?
• an unexpected connectionHow do locust infestations connect to geological hazards in global policy?Locust infestations are grouped alongside catastrophic geophysical events like earthquakes and tsunamis as natural disasters targeted for coordinated mitigation during the decade.

Sources

• [1]International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction (Wikidata Q1183552) · CC0 1.0
• [2]International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [3]International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [4]United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [5]Disaster risk reduction · CC BY-SA 4.0