26 July 1989

35th plenary meeting

International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction

The Economic and Social Council,

Considering that natural disasters have adversely affected the lives of a great number of people and caused considerable damage to infrastructure and property world wide, especially in developing countries,

Recognizing the important responsibility of the United Nations system as a whole for promoting international co-operation in mitigating natural disasters, providing assistance and co-ordinating disaster relief, preparedness and prevention,

Recalling General Assembly resolution 42/169 of 11 December 1987, by which the Assembly decided to designate the 1990s as a decade in which the international community, under the auspices of the United Nations, would pay special attention to fostering international co-operation in the field of natural disaster reduction,

Bearing in mind paragraph 5 of General Assembly resolution 42/169, in which the Assembly requested the Secretary-General, in co-operation with the appropriate organizations of the United Nations system and relevant scientific, technical, academic and non-governmental organizations, to develop an appropriate framework for attaining the objective and goals of the Decade and to submit a report thereon to the Assembly at its forty-fourth session through the Economic and Social Council,

Recalling also General Assembly resolution 43/202 of 20 December 1988, in which the Assembly reiterated its request to the Secretary-General to develop an appropriate framework for action at all levels for attaining the objective and goals of the Decade,

Recalling further Economic and Social Council resolution 1988/51 of 26 July 1988 on assistance in cases of natural disaster and other disaster situations,

1. Takes note with interest of the report of the Secretary-General on the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction;

2. Expresses its appreciation for the work done by the International Ad Hoc Group of Experts on the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction, which adopted the Tokyo Declaration on 11 April 1989 and submitted its report to the Secretary-General, and requests that the full report of the Group be submitted to the General Assembly as an official document;

3. Recommends that the General Assembly take action to develop an appropriate framework for international co-operation to attain the objective and goals of the Decade, which commences in 1990, with particular emphasis on the catalytic and facilitating role envisaged for the United Nations system, taking into account the proposals and recommendations contained in the report of the Secretary-General and the views expressed at the second regular session of 1989 of the Economic and Social Council.