The loss of life and property caused by major natural disasters is extremely heavy. For example, the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004 claimed more than 200,000 lives, and the Pakistan earthquake in 2005 claimed more than 80,000 lives. In 2008, Myanmar was hit by a strong tropical storm, causing more than 6,543,800 people to die or go missing, and the Wenchuan earthquake in China caused more than 80,000 people to die or go missing. In addition, countries and regions such as Europe, the United States, South Asia and Latin America have also been hit by floods, hurricanes or tropical storms, with heavy losses.
Since the 1960s, the number of deaths caused by natural disasters has been rising all over the world, with developing countries accounting for about 90% of the total. To some extent, this situation reflects the impact of poverty, population pressure and environmental degradation on the scale of natural disasters. The losses caused by natural disasters are particularly serious in conflict areas or areas with the least developed economy. Affected by the South Asian earthquake, the economic losses caused by global natural disasters in 2005 were about 2 10 billion US dollars, 25 billion US dollars in 2006 and 74 billion US dollars in 2007. In 2006, former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said: "In the past decade, various disasters caused by natural disasters claimed more than 600,000 lives and affected more than 2.4 billion people, most of whom were in developing countries. Years of development achievements have been destroyed, which has plunged millions of people into deeper poverty and made them more vulnerable to future natural disasters. Now more than ever, we need to accelerate our efforts to reduce vulnerability. " China and Asia are both natural disaster-prone areas, and nearly 80% of natural disasters in the world occur in Asia, so the task of disaster reduction and prevention is even more arduous.
Disaster prevention and mitigation and the provision of humanitarian assistance are one of the important tasks of the United Nations. The United Nations has established corresponding institutions for this purpose and formulated an international disaster reduction strategy. After the Indian Ocean tsunami, the United Nations disaster reduction strategy and mechanism were further strengthened. After the Sichuan earthquake in 2008, the United Nations disaster reduction strategy and the United Nations played a more significant role in this field.
(a) United Nations relief and disaster reduction agencies
Disaster prevention and mitigation is an important part of United Nations humanitarian affairs. 1992, in order to strengthen the rapid response capability of the United Nations to emergencies and natural disasters and coordinate humanitarian activities within the United Nations system and other aspects, the United Nations established the Department of Humanitarian Affairs, which was reorganized into the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in 1998? Coordination of humanitarian affairs). The main task of the Ministry is to coordinate the actions of international humanitarian relief agencies, alleviate human suffering in disasters and emergencies, safeguard human rights, promote disaster preparedness and prevention, and seek sustainable solutions. The agency is also responsible for coordinating needs assessments issued by field missions of United Nations operational agencies; Issue an inter-agency appeal to raise funds for humanitarian assistance; Organize donor meetings and follow-up arrangements; Monitoring the donor response to the appeal; Release the donation report, learn about the progress, and so on.
The Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs is responsible for leading the coordination office and concurrently serving as the United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator. The decision-making body of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs is the Inter-Agency Standing Committee, which is composed of heads of United Nations relief agencies. Important non-governmental humanitarian relief organizations such as the International Red Cross and Red Crescent also participated in the work of the Committee. The Committee is responsible for formulating humanitarian relief policies, coordinating the relations among institutions and resolving differences among them. In addition, the United Nations also has an "International Strategy for Disaster Reduction Secretariat", which is responsible for coordinating all aspects of disaster reduction activities and aims to provide a platform for the world to discuss disaster reduction strategies.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has set up a disaster assessment coordination group under the Emergency Relief Division, which is composed of disaster relief experts from various countries and stands by at any time. In case of emergency, team experts can rush to the disaster area within a few hours at the request of the relevant countries to assess the disaster situation and urgently need help and coordinate the rescue work. The "Emergency Rescue Department" has also set up disaster relief departments to deal with environmental disasters, urban search and rescue, coordination forces and civil defense forces. In addition, in many disaster-prone developing countries, the United Nations has established a United Nations disaster management team composed of country-level representatives of United Nations agencies led by resident coordinators, which can coordinate relief activities on the spot in case of emergency. The United Nations funds for disaster reduction and relief are entirely from voluntary contributions from Member States and others. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has established the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) to quickly respond to sudden disasters and reduce the loss of life and property.
The United Nations emergency rescue notification mechanism, the consolidated appeal process for humanitarian donations and the Central Emergency Response Fund are important components of the United Nations disaster prevention, mitigation and relief mechanism. Due to the establishment of disaster response mechanism, whenever there is an emergency in the world, United Nations relief agencies can quickly intervene and carry out active rescue work. For a long time, the United Nations has gradually established and improved relevant systems in this field, accumulated rich experience and gathered global professional manpower and resources. These capitals enable the United Nations to play an important role in this field. After the Indian Ocean tsunami, an official of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in an interview: "There are many specialized agencies for humanitarian relief in the United Nations system, and the disaster relief structure is very perfect, which is not available in any other international organization." .
(b) United Nations disaster reduction strategies and objectives
Looking back at history, we can see that the United Nations has made great efforts in formulating and promoting disaster reduction strategies. 1987 In February, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution to designate 1990~2000 as the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction. One of the goals of the Decade is to encourage the improvement of national capacity and reduce helplessness in the face of disasters. IDNDR has also made efforts to strengthen international cooperation, especially to reduce the loss of life, economic damage and social chaos caused by natural disasters in developing countries. From 65438 to 0994, the United Nations held the first World Conference on Disaster Reduction in Yokohama, Japan, and adopted the Yokohama Strategy and its Action Plan, which formulated disaster prevention, preparedness and mitigation strategies for Member States. This conference is called the milestone of international disaster reduction, and Yokohama Strategy is also called the international blueprint in the field of disaster reduction.
The United Nations disaster reduction strategy has 10 principle, the main points of which include: disaster prevention and preparedness are very important for disaster reduction and relief; Disaster prevention and preparedness should be regarded as an integral part of development policies and plans at the national, regional, bilateral, multilateral and international levels; There is an urgent need to develop and strengthen disaster prevention and mitigation capabilities; Early warning and effective early warning through telecommunication means, including broadcasting services, are the key factors for the success of disaster prevention and preparedness; Only with the participation of local communities, national governments and regional and international levels can preventive measures achieve the best results; Only by properly educating and training the whole community and adopting an appropriate development design and development model focusing on the target group can the vulnerability be reduced.
At the Hyogo International Conference on Disaster Reduction in Japan in 2005, 168 countries adopted the Hyogo Declaration and Hyogo Framework for Action, updated the Yokohama Strategy and its Action Plan, and determined the strategic objectives and action priorities of world disaster reduction from 2005 to 20 15. The Hyogo Framework for Action further emphasizes that the concept of disaster reduction should be incorporated into future sustainable development actions, the construction of disaster reduction system should be strengthened, an early warning system should be established to deal with disasters, the disaster reduction capacity should be improved, and the risks in the post-disaster reconstruction stage should be reduced. The United Nations hopes that "this action framework will help reduce the global natural disaster risk in the next 10 year, make the world safer after 10 year, and may reduce the number of deaths caused by natural disasters in the next 10 year by half compared with the previous 10 year."
The Hyogo Framework for Action defines the strategic objectives and five priority areas for global disaster reduction from 2005 to 2065. These key points are: ① to ensure that disaster reduction becomes one of the priorities of the government and local government departments; (2) Identify, evaluate and monitor disaster risks, and improve early warning capability; ③ Cultivate the awareness of safety and disaster resistance of institutions at all levels with knowledge, innovation and education, and create a culture that attaches importance to safety and disaster resistance at all levels; (4) Reducing potential disaster risk factors; ⑤ Strengthen preparation to ensure effective response to disasters. The Declaration and Framework emphasize the need to create an atmosphere of disaster prevention and resilience at all levels, from individual to international, and promote the formulation of relevant pre-disaster strategies, which are necessary investments to alleviate the suffering caused by various disasters by reducing social vulnerability. It is necessary to further strengthen the resilience of countries and communities, establish a people-oriented early warning system, and carry out risk assessment, education and other active, comprehensive and comprehensive activities that take into account multiple hazards and involve multi-sectors to reduce future risks and reduce vulnerability.
The expected result of Hyogo Framework for Action is: "Disaster losses are significantly reduced in terms of lives and social, economic and environmental assets of communities and countries". The framework suggests that all relevant actors, such as governments, regional and international organizations, civil society, including volunteers, the private sector and the scientific community, must fully commit themselves and participate in achieving this goal. The meeting decided to adopt the following strategic objectives, including: more effectively integrating disaster risk factors into sustainable development policies, plans and programs at all levels, with special emphasis on disaster prevention, mitigation, preparedness and vulnerability reduction; Develop and strengthen systems, mechanisms and capabilities at all levels, especially at the community level, in order to systematically strengthen the ability to resist disasters. At the same time, risk reduction methods are systematically incorporated into the design of emergency preparedness and recovery programs for affected communities. The disaster reduction strategy of the United Nations mainly emphasizes that disaster reduction, disaster prevention and rescue should be a part of sustainable development, an important part of the national development strategy, and a matter of concern and participation of all departments and various actors.
19891February, the United Nations decided to designate the second Wednesday of every year1October as the International Day for Disaster Reduction. The theme of the International Day for Disaster Reduction in 2006-2007 is "Disaster risk reduction starts at school". The purpose of setting up this theme is mainly to emphasize that schools should strengthen disaster reduction education and improve school safety. The theme of the International Day for Disaster Reduction in 2008-2009 is "Hospitals are Free from Disasters". In his speech on the International Day for Disaster Reduction in 2008, the Secretary-General said: In a particularly serious year of natural disasters, on the occasion of the third anniversary of the South Asian earthquake, and when we still remember the disasters and casualties caused by the Wenchuan earthquake and the tropical storm in Myanmar this year, we commemorate the International Day for Disaster Reduction in 2008. This moment is "more suitable for us to sum up experiences and lessons". The Secretary-General urges all governments and departments to strengthen the implementation of the Hyogo Framework for Action and commit themselves to the "vital task" of disaster reduction and prevention. After the disaster in 2008, it is of great significance for disaster-prone Member States to strengthen the publicity, promotion and implementation of the United Nations disaster reduction strategy.
(iii) United Nations experience and resources in the field of disaster reduction
The disaster reduction strategy and disaster relief assistance of the United Nations are multifaceted, and financial assistance is only one aspect. Part of the United Nations humanitarian assistance is to raise relief funds for countries suffering from natural disasters. During the three years from March 2006 to September 2008, the United Nations Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) provided about $976 million in humanitarian fund assistance to more than 65,438+0,000 projects in 65 countries. In 2008 (as of September), 77 Member States,/kloc-0 observer countries and 6 civil society organizations pledged to provide $432 million to the Central Emergency Response Fund. This year, the Central Emergency Response Fund provided $247.7 million in quick emergency donations to 47 countries, $65,438+/kloc-0.9 million in aid to countries with insufficient funds, and supported more than 300 humanitarian projects.
Developed countries in Europe are major donors to the United Nations Central Emergency Response Fund. As of September 2008, among the top 20 countries that paid the most dues to the United Nations, except South Korea, the rest were developed countries in Europe and America. China donated $500,000, ranking 22nd. The United States donated $50,000, ranking 4 1. China is both a recipient and a donor of United Nations humanitarian assistance. After the Sichuan earthquake, the United Nations provided China with assistance worth $654.38 million, including $8 million in emergency humanitarian assistance provided by the United Nations Central Emergency Response Fund.
In the field of disaster prevention and mitigation, international assistance is multi-channel, and the United Nations is only a part of it. A large amount of assistance is provided through bilateral and other international organizations, non-governmental organizations and other channels. The United Nations can play an important coordinating role, but this role is also limited. United Nations appeals for emergency funds often face insufficient funds. For example, the United Nations launched an emergency appeal for donations to help Myanmar, but nearly 50% of the funding needs were not met.
The role of the United Nations in disaster prevention and reduction is mainly to promote the international disaster reduction strategy at the global level. As an international platform for disaster reduction, the United Nations has rich experience and resource advantages in disaster assessment, monitoring and communication in the aspects of propaganda, mobilization, education and communication. For example, after the Indian Ocean tsunami, the United Nations not only carried out large-scale donation and rescue operations, but also carried out a series of activities such as information exchange, academic seminars, disaster reduction training, and the establishment of an international disaster early warning system.
For example, in 2007, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) cooperated with the International Economic and Technical Exchange Center of the Ministry of Civil Affairs of China and the Ministry of Commerce to carry out the "Disaster Risk Management Project", aiming at helping the public to raise their awareness of disaster prevention, so as to better cope with natural disasters and reduce possible losses and casualties caused by disasters. After the Sichuan earthquake in 2008, the United Nations applied the experience and lessons of the Pakistani earthquake in 2005 and the Indian Ocean tsunami disaster in 2004 to assist China in post-disaster reconstruction. The United Nations Secretariat for Disaster Reduction also plans to formulate the Chengdu Outline for Disaster Reduction and promote it globally. The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) has also set up the Disaster Reduction Division in its institutional reform, upgrading disaster reduction cooperation to a key area, hoping to use its own resource advantages, technical expertise and professional experience to conduct training and seminars in the field of disaster reduction.