The International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction 2020

The United Nations General Assembly has designated October 13th as the International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction to promote a global culture of disaster risk reduction. It is an opportunity to acknowledge the progress being made toward reducing disaster risk and losses in lives, livelihoods and health in line with the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030 adopted at the Third UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction in Japan in March 2015.

In 2016, the UN Secretary-General launched “The Sendai Seven Campaign” to promote each of the seven targets over seven years. The 2020 target is Target E: “Substantially increase the number of countries with national and local disaster risk reduction strategies by 2020”, which lays the foundation for the implementation of the Sendai Framework and is closely linked with Priority for Action 2: “Strengthening disaster risk governance to manage disaster risk.”

In keeping with the Day’s focus on the impact that disasters have on people’s lives and well-being, this year’s theme is about conveying the message that many disasters can be avoided or prevented if there are disaster risk reduction strategies in place to manage and reduce existing levels of risk and to avoid the creation of new risk. What that amounts to is “good disaster risk governance.”

In dedication of the International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction, UNDRR announced a Creativity Contest in Central Asia. Everyone had an opportunity to show their talent and contribute to the safety of their community by raising awareness on disaster risk reduction by submitting their work. Participants of the Creativity Contest answered the following question: “How would you reduce disaster risks in your community?”

There were 300 entries across Central Asia. Winners of the Creativity Contest in Turkmenistan are:

• Rustam Geldiyev
• Meryem Ilmammedova
• Lora Yusupova

Participants of the Creativity Contest highlighted clear actions that local community can take in order to improve management and reduction of disaster risks. On October 13th, the message of the day is – «We must act collectively. We must avoid creating new risk, and we must systematically reduce existing risk. We must strengthen the capacity of people, communities, countries and systems to anticipate, withstand and recover better from shocks and stresses and transform through crises».