About the Third UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction The Third UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction will be held from 14 to 18 March 2015 in Sendai City, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. Several thousand participants are expected, including at related events linked to the World Conference under the umbrella of building the resilience of nations and communities to disasters. Presentation courtesy of Dr. Walter Hays, Global Alliance for Disaster Reduction

1. REALITY CHECK: ARE WE MORE OR
LESS DISASTER RESILIENT NOW?

2. Hurricane Sandy about to Strike
New York City, 29 October 2012

3. After Hurricane Sandy has passed NYC:
Now Is the Time for Reflection

4. Through its resolution A/RES/58/214, the
United Nations General Assembly convened
a World Conference on Disaster Reduction,
to be held in Kobe, Hyogo, Japan, from 18
to 22 January 2005. The Conference was to
take stock of progress in disaster risk
reduction accomplished since the Yokohama
Conference of 1994 and to make plans for
the next ten years.

5. THE 1ST WORLD CONFERENCE
• WAS CONVENED SHORTLY AFTER
THE DECEMER 26, 2004 BANDE ACHE,
INDONESIA EARTHQUAKE AND
TSUNAMI DISASTER, WHICH LEFT
OVER 200,000 DEAD

6. THE 1ST WORLD CONFERENCE
• WAS, BY EXTENSION, A PRODUCT OF
THE INTERNATIONAL DECADE FOR
NATURAL DISASTER REDUCTION
(IDNDR), WHICH WAS ADOPTED
UNANOMOUSLY BY THE UNITED
NATIONS ON DECEMBER 31, 1089

7. THE 1ST WORLD CONFERENCE
• WAS A PRODUCT OF THE FIRST FIVE
YEARS OF LEADERSHIP OF THE
INTERNATIONAL STRATEGY FOR
DISASTER REDUCTIONDR) (ISDR)

8. THE 1ST WORLD CONFERENCE
• WAS CONVENED IN KOBE, JAPAN IN
JANUARY 2005, AND LED TO THE
HYOGO FRAMEWORK FOR ACTION

9. GOAL: A GLOBAL CULTURE OF DISASTER
RESILIECE IN OUR GENERATION

10. THE GOAL OF EVERY
COMMUNITY
• DISASTERS RESIL-
IENCE!
• …EVEN THOUGH
NATURAL HAZARDS
(E.G., FLOODS,
SEVERE
WINDSTORMS,
EARTHQUAKES,
DROUGHTS) ARE
INEVITABLE FOR
EVERY COMMUNITY.

11. REALITY CHECK: ARE WE MORE OR
LESS DISASTER RESILIENT NOW?
• THE ANSWER IS “PROBABLY NOT!”
• - - - IN SPITE OF 25 YEARS OF
CUMMULATIVE HIGH-QUALITY
LEADERSHIP BY THE UNITED
NATIONS DURING THE DECADE OF
THE 1990’S UNDER THE IDNDR AND
DURING THE PAST 1 ½ DECADES
UNDER THE ISDR.

12. WE KNOW WHAT TO DO,
HOW TO DO IT,
WHY TO DO IT,
WHEN TO DO IT, and
WHERE TO DO IT

13. COMMUNITYDATA BASES
AND INFORMATION
HAZARDS:
GROUND SHAKING
GROUND FAILURE
SURFACE FAULTING
TECTONIC DEFORMATION
TSUNAMI RUN UP
AFTERSHOCKS
•HAZARD MAPS
•INVENTORY
•VULNERABILITY
•LOCATION
RISK ASSESSMENT
RISK
ACCEPTABLE RISK
UNACCEPTABLE RISK
ANTICIPATORY
DECISIONS
•EDUCATIONAL SURGES
•MITIGATION
•PREPAREDNESS
•EMERGENCY RESPONSE
•RECOVERY and
RECONSTRUCTION
RISK MANAGEMENT

14. HAZARDS
PHYSICAL ELEMENTS THAT CONTINUE TO
LEAD TO DISASTERS IN EVERY NATION
EXPOSURE
VULNERABILITY LOCATION
RISK

15. WHERE ARE THE COMMUNITIES THAT NEED ADDITIONAL CAPACITY
200 NATIONS AND 7+
BILLION PEOPLE
NORTH
AMERICA
CARIBBEAN
BASIN
SUB-SAHARA
AFRICA
MEDITER-
RANEAN
ISLAND
NATIONS
ASIA
SOUTH
AMERICA
EUROPE

16. TT’S TIME FOR A CRITICAL
EVALUATION, SO - - -
TEN YEARS LATER IN 2015
THE GLOBAL COMMUNITY OF
NATIONS IS PLANNING A
2ND WORLD CONFERENCE

17. SO, IF IT IS NOT LEADERSHIP
AND NOT KNOWLEDGE,
WHAT IS KEEPING US FROM
MEETING THE GOALS OF
THE HYOGO FRAMEWORK
FOR ACTION ON A GLOBAL
SCALE?

18. WE HATE TO ADMIT IT, BUT
WE HAVE TO CHANGE OUR WAY
OF THINKING
BEFORE
WE CAN CHANGE OUR WAY OF
ACTING

19. APATHY
SOCIAL ELEMENTS THAT PREVENT US FROM
MEETING OUR GLOBAL GOALS
UNWISE
DECISIONS
NARROW-
MINDEDNESS
IGNORANCE
RISK

20. THE STRATEGY
• Engage a new generation of
politicians, business leaders,
scientists, engineers, the
media, . . .others as
stakeholders in a concerted
effort to make every global
community disaster resilient.

21. GIVE THEM A TITLE AND THE 2015
CHALLENGE
Engage the new corps of
“Ambassadors for Global
Disaster Resilience” (i.e.,
those who are willing to commit
to the goal of building global
capacity for disaster resilience).

22. DISASTER RESILIENCE
REQUIRES A “24/7” EFFORT
• A 24/7 EFFORT IS
NEEDED TO BUILD
THE CAPACITY
NEEDED TO
IMPLEMENT THE
PILLARS OF
DISASTER RES-
ILIENCE.

23. NEXT: CAPACITIZING AND
PARTNERNING
• Build capacity and partner-
ships simultaneously in the
community of politicians,
business leaders, scientists,
engineers, the media, . . .
others and work together in a
concerted global effort.

24. HOW TO FAIL
FACT: NO COMMUNITY CAN BECOME DISASTER RESILIENT BY
WORKING ALONE WITHOUT GOALS OR CAPACITY
GUARANTEED!
HIGH
DISASTER
RISK
NO
CAPACITY
FOR
DISASTER
RESILIENCE
EDUCATION
THAT DOES
NOT BUILD
CAPACITY

25. HOW TO SUCCEED
POLITICAL
PROCECESES
PHYSICAL
SCIENCES
ENGINEERING
SCIENCES
SUCCESS: INCREASING DISASTER RESILIENCE IN
EVERY COMMUNITY
STRATEGIC GOAL: WORKING TOGETHER TO INCREASE
CAPACITY IN EVERY COMMUNITY

26. COMMUNITY
CAPACITY
GOAL:
DISASTER
RESILIENCE
ACADEMIA
FUNCTIONAL
NETWORKING
CHANNELS
INFORMATION
NETWORKING
CHANNELS
ORGANIZATION
NETWORKING
CHANNELS
WORKING
TOGETHER
COMMUNITY STAKEHOLDERS
Stratec Consulting

27. A RENEWED GLOBAL
SURGE OF HOPE AND
ENTHUSIASM
A HISTORIC EFFORT THAT WILL
BENEFIT EVERY NATION

28. 2015 IS A GOOD TIME
FOR A GLOBAL SURGE IN
EDUCATIONAL, TECHNICAL AND
POLITICAL CAPACITY BUILDING
TO MAKE ALL COMMUNITIES OF
THE WORLD DISASTER RESILIENT

29. WE HAVE COMMON ASSETS
SO, LET’S USE THEM

30. SURGE VISION: INFUSION OF
KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE
BY 1,000,000+ NEW “AMBASSADORS
FOR DISASTER RESILIENCE” IN AN
ONGOING, CONCERTED EFFORT TO
CREATE TURNING POINTS FOR
DISASTER-RISK RESILIENCE IN
EVERY NATION

31. THE KEY IS BEING STRATEGIC
AND TACTICAL
•START NOW WHERE YOU LIVE!
•START WITH EXISTING PARTNERS AND ADD NEW
PARTNERS!
•START WITH YOUR HOME!
•START WITH YOUR SCHOOLS!
•START WITH YOUR COMMUNITY!

32. THE BIG FOUR IN THE COMMUNITY
MAKE THE DIFFERENCE
• EDUCATORS
• CITIZENS
• STAKE- HOLDERS
(PRACTI-
TIONERS)
• POWER
STRUCTURE
(POLICY MAKERS)

33. FOUR STRATEGIES THAT WORK
• MAKE THE GOAL CLEAR
• MAKE THE GOAL AND ITS BENEFITS
AND BARRIERS EASY TO VISUALIZE
• MAKE THE GOAL POPULAR
• MAKE THE GOAL A MANDATE FOR
ADOPTING AND IMPLEMENTING A
HIGHER-POWER STRATEGY

34. UNDERSTAND OUR
COMMON BARRIERS
TO SUCCESS

35. BARRIERS TO A GLOBAL SURGE
• “MYTH”
• A GENERAL
SOLUTION
WILL WORK
FOR EVERY
COMMUNITY
• “REALITY”
• EACH COM-
MUNITY
NEEDS SITE-
SPECIFIC
INFORMATION
AND
STRATEGIES

36. BARRIERS IN A GLOBAL SURGE
• “MYTH”
• PROFESSIONAL
PRACTICE
ALWAYS KEEPS
PACE WITH
KNOWLEDGE
• “REALITY”
• EVERY DISASTER
IS A NEW
LEARNING
EXPERIENCE FOR
EVERY
COMMUNITY

37. BARRIERS FACED BY CHAMPIONS
OF SUSTAINABILITY
• “MYTH”
• PROFESSIONAL
EDUCATION IS A
SHORT
PROCESS
• “REALITY”
• PROFESSIONAL
EDUCATION IS A
LONG PROCESS
THAT MUST BE
NURTURED AND
SUSTAINED

38. SURGE
ATTRIBUTES
LEADERSHIP
INNOVATION
PARTNERSHIPS
FOCUS
SURGE
TARGETS
PROFESSIONAL
EDUCATION
CODES &
STANDARDS
COMMUNITY
PLANNING
IDENTIFY/ FIX
VULNERABILITIES
COMMUNITY
READINESS
PUBLIC
AWARENESS