There is remarkable work being done to create opportunities, as well as to prevent catastrophe.

Emphasizing also the importance of integrating risk reduction into all phases of disaster management, development planning and post disaster recovery,

While we cannot prevent natural disasters, today we have the wherewithal to mitigate their effects.

The risks and potential for disasters associated with natural hazards are largely shaped by prevailing levels of vulnerability and measures taken to prevent, mitigate and prepare for disasters.

Experts in both the nuclear and finance industries assured us that new technology had all but eliminated the risk of catastrophe.

As we meet today, the World Conference on Disaster Reduction is being held in Kobe, Japan, with a view to launching a new framework for action to increase the world's resilience in the event of natural disasters.

Emphasizing the importance of addressing vulnerability and integrating risk reduction into all phases of natural disaster management, post natural disaster recovery and development planning,

Emphasizing also the importance of integrating risk reduction into development planning and post disaster recovery,

Before the disaster, Japan issued about 1.5 billion in earthquake related catastrophe bonds as a risk management device the debt is canceled if a precisely defined seismic event occurs.

Disaster reduction posed a challenge to all countries, especially developing countries, and the international community needed to build capacities for risk reduction, adaptation, early warning and post disaster reconstruction.

It demonstrates once again our vulnerability to natural phenomena and reminds us that we must incorporate disaster prevention and disaster risk reduction into our development policies.

Although it may not be possible to prevent natural disasters, there are ways and means to at least mitigate their effects.

When contributing to the United Nations post tsunami flash appeal and in subsequent disaster reduction debates, Japan had emphasized the gender perspective.

In some of the tsunami affected countries, efforts were made to boost enrolment levels even beyond pre disaster levels.

Conversely, some disasters have been instrumental in aggravating societal tensions, as was the case in Nicaragua after the 1972 earthquake.

Nor can consultations on how to deal with today s central global challenges wait until a crisis.

After one of the greatest cataclysms in world history, the United States joined with visionary builders from over 50 countries to create the United Nations.

A vacuum currently exists in terms of capacities and United Nations system wide mechanisms to support post disaster recovery.

That would enable us to take full advantage of the crucial hours following the disasters and would save the greatest possible number of lives.

Major steps have been taken by the international community in seeking to work together not only to overcome the consequences of the tsunami, but also to prevent further catastrophes.

Recognizing, in that regard, that unnecessary loss of life and property could be avoided if better information were available regarding the risk and onset of disasters, through improved risk assessment, early warning and monitoring of disasters,

Deeply concerned by the fact that natural disasters in every corner of the globe continue to claim high numbers of casualties and cause immense material damage and that the frequency and magnitude of these catastrophes place an ever increasing material and moral burden on nations,

(b) Development of infrastructure elements, applications and information technology procedures for business continuity disaster recovery in cooperation with Headquarters, ensuring high level of availability of applications and data

Natural hazards cannot be prevented, but damage caused by hazards can be prevented and avoided by proper preparedness, response and mitigation efforts.

11. Stresses the importance of identifying, assessing and managing risks prior to the occurrence of disasters, for which it is necessary to combine the efforts at all levels of the development, humanitarian, scientific and environmental communities, as well as the importance of integrating disaster reduction, as appropriate, into development plans and poverty eradication programmes

Stresses the importance of identifying, assessing and managing risks prior to the occurrence of disasters, for which it is necessary to combine the efforts at all levels of the development, humanitarian, scientific and environmental communities, as well as the importance of integrating disaster reduction into development plans and poverty eradication programmes

Acknowledging the ongoing efforts of UN Habitat towards more sustainable post disaster and post conflict reconstruction and recovery through its participation in the Executive Committee on Humanitarian Affairs,

15. Takes note of the initiatives taken by the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and by the International Search and Rescue Advisory Group to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of international urban search and rescue assistance in the aftermath of natural disasters

At the summit, the three countries issued a joint statement outlining cooperation on a wide range of issues, including nuclear safety, disaster prevention, economic growth, and the environment.

(c) Systematic incorporation of risk reduction approaches into the design and implementation of emergency preparedness, response and recovery programmes for the post disaster reconstruction of affected communities.

When I say guard against , I do not mean, of course, that we can prevent natural disasters but that we can at least reduce the risks to human life and property.

Full implementation and follow up of the defined actions and adequate resource mobilization would increase the resilience of nations and communities to recover from disasters and limit their adverse consequences.

20. Stresses the importance of identifying, assessing and managing risks prior to the occurrence of disasters, for which it is necessary to combine the efforts at all levels from the development, humanitarian, scientific and environmental communities as well as the importance of integrating disaster risk reduction, as appropriate, into development plans and poverty eradication programmes

We believe that it is critically important that the Hyogo Framework for Action be translated into concrete actions as well as global achievements followed up through the ISDR and other relevant international, regional, bilateral and domestic national activities, in order to reduce disaster risks.

President Lee Myung Bak s government plans to invest 38 billion employing people to clean up four major rivers and reduce disaster risks by building embankments and water treatment facilities.

Hence, Turkey strongly supports ASEAN's decision to establish a regional mechanism on disaster prevention, particularly a regional early warning system in the Indian Ocean and South East Asian region.

The nuclear industry s very existence is dependent on hidden public subsidies costs borne by society in the event of nuclear disaster, as well as the costs of the still unmanaged disposal of nuclear waste.

The location of this pool of is not a place where man can inject or store , and this pool was not known about nor monitored until after the occurrence of the natural disaster.

As the ashes settled and the dust cleared, among the new features of the landscape was a new organization designed to better manage the world's affairs and, most of all, to help prevent such catastrophes from happening ever again.

We must continue to work together to develop a global warning system to prevent such massive destruction and loss of life from happening again, whether from an earthquake, tsunami or other form of natural disaster.

Notes the importance of developing international mechanisms for the implementation of the actions established in the Hyogo Framework for Action, such as the International Recovery Platform, launched to assure the reduction of vulnerability in the post disaster recovery phase

Environmental vulnerability is accelerated when ecological sustainability is not maintained, livelihood opportunities are threatened possibly leading to natural disasters, emigration or increasing the likelihood of conflicts over declining resources.

We recognize as well that a culture of disaster prevention and resilience, and associated pre disaster strategies, which are sound investments, must be fostered at all levels, ranging from the individual to international levels.

Disaster risks, hazards, and their impacts pose a threat, but appropriate response to these can and should lead to actions to reduce risks and vulnerabilities in the future.

All disasters are hence the result of human failure to introduce appropriate disaster management measures.