The International Day for Disaster Reduction 2011 takes place within the framework of the World Disaster Reduction Campaign 2010–2011. The theme of the Campaign is
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| 2010-11 World Disaster Reduction Campaign poster |
On 22 December 1989, the General Assembly assigned the second Wednesday of October as “International Day for Natural Disaster Reduction”. The International Day was announced to be observed annually during International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction, 1990-1999.
In 2001, the General Assembly decided to maintain the observance the International Day for Natural Disaster Reduction on the second Wednesday of October as decided in the year 1989, as the paradigm to promote a global culture of natural disaster reduction, including disaster prevention, mitigation and alertness.
The objective of observing International Day for Natural Disaster Reduction is to sensitize the social and financial communities and organization on their important role in reducing disaster risk, and to increase awareness in the disaster and risk management community of the utility of existing financial tools and safety nets to mitigate the vulnerability of disaster-prone populations.
Hazards are a major risk for the poor, who are already the most vulnerable in society; the destruction of property and lives enhances their downward cycle of poverty. The recent tsunami and earthquakes in the Indian Ocean are a tragic example of disaster vulnerability and how communities can be left to extreme poverty and mismanagement within a few hours.
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