For International Day for Disaster Reduction, UN highlights key role of women and
girls
October 13, 2012: Marking the International Day for Disaster Reduction, United Nations
officials have called for women and girls to be at the forefront of reducing risk
and managing the world’s response to natural hazards.
“Across the world, women
and girls are using their roles within families and communities to strengthen risk
reduction,” said Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in his message for the Day, which fell
on 13 October.
The General Assembly designated 13 October as the International
Day for Disaster Reduction in 2009, replacing an earlier version of the Day. Its objective
is to raise awareness of how people are taking action to reduce their risk to disasters.
The
theme of for this year’s Day is ‘Women and Girls: the [in]Visible Force of Resilience’
– an estimated 200 million young people are affected by reported disasters each year
and thousands of them are killed or injured.
In his message, Mr. Ban stressed
that women’s leadership in this area is increasingly valuable as climate change intensifies
and the world struggles to cope with extreme weather.
“In Bangladesh, women
organized themselves to prepare for and respond to floods by teaching other women
how to build portable clay ovens and elevate houses,” Mr. Ban said. “In South Africa,
marginalized adolescent girls have been empowered to help design plans to reduce the
impact of drought and severe wind storms.”
The Secretary-General also noted
that women and girls are a force of resilience and that encouraging them to take on
leadership roles on disaster risk reduction will benefit entire communities.