AG/RES. 1955 (XXXIII-O/03)

NATURAL DISASTER REDUCTION 

(Resolution adopted at the fourth plenary session, held on June 10, 2003) 

            THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY, 

            HAVING SEEN the report of the Inter-American Committee on Natural Disaster Reduction (IACNDR) to the Permanent Council on the Inter-American Strategic Plan for Policy on Vulnerability Reduction, Risk Management and Disaster Response (IASP) (CP/doc.3737/03 corr. 1); 

            BEARING IN MIND that the IASP contains information that is of significant importance to policymakers in member states responsible for emergency preparedness, vulnerability reduction, disaster response, and disaster recovery and reconstruction efforts; 

            OBSERVING the increasing impact of natural hazard events on the populations and the economic and social infrastructure of the member states as they relate to meeting sectoral development objectives and supporting the tenets and mandates related to sustainable development; 

            TAKING INTO ACCOUNT that the member states have committed themselves to progress on disaster reduction and, to that end, they have requested the support of the General Secretariat of the Organization of American States as well as that of regional, hemispheric, and international specialized agencies; and 

            TAKING NOTE of the measures proposed by the IACNDR and set out in the IASP for strengthening cooperation among member states, which will be considered by the preparatory body of the Special Conference on Security, scheduled to be held in Mexico in October 2003, 

RESOLVES: 

            1.         To thank the Inter-American Committee on Natural Disaster Reduction (IACNDR) for the preparation and submission of the Inter-American Strategic Plan for Policy on Vulnerability Reduction, Risk Management and Disaster Response (IASP), in response to resolution AG/RES. 1885 (XXXII-O/02). 

            2.         To urge member states to give priority consideration to the implementation of the measures contained therein. 

            3.         To request that the Permanent Council, through the Committee on Hemispheric Security and in consultation with Permanent Executive Committee of the Inter-American Council for Integral Development (CEPCIDI), examine the measures proposed in the IASP with a view to assisting member states in the implementation of elements of the Plan. 

            4.         To request the IACNDR to continue to stimulate the active participation of the relevant inter-American agencies and subregional programs in its three working groups. 

            5.         To request the IACNDR to report periodically to the Permanent Council on its compliance with this and previous resolutions and on the progress of its work.