t has been ten years since a massive tsunami swept across the Indian Ocean killing more than 200,000 people and devastating coastline communities from Indonesia to Somalia. Today, the world is much better prepared to mitigate such disasters, senior United Nations officials have declared.
“Ten years after the Indian Ocean tsunami, the world has taken significant measures to make the world a safer place against disasters,” confirmed Margareta Wahlström, the head of the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR), in a press release issued today to mark the anniversary.
“We now have more efficient early warning systems and better evacuation procedures in place,” she added. “There is also greater understanding and awareness globally of the broad damage that disasters can inflict on our societies.”
The world’s worst recorded natural disaster hit the Asia Pacific region in December 2004, claiming the lives of 227,000 people and leaving the livelihoods of some 1.4 million survivors in tatters. While the immediate economic loss caused by the event was estimated at $9.9 billion, the tsunami has also inflicted long-term environmental and development harm as salt water contaminated the land, wiping out agriculture and damaging forests and ecosystems.
At the same time, the widespread devastation and sheer immensity of the disaster spurred the international community into immediate action. Just three weeks after the tsunami, countries united in Hyogo, Japan, to craft the Hyogo Framework for Action – the world’s first comprehensive agreement on disaster reduction.
“Since the Indian Ocean tsunami and the adoption of the Hyogo Framework for Action in 2005, there have been substantial changes in the global thinking regarding disaster risk reduction issues,” Ms. Wahlström, who helped coordinate the international disaster response a decade ago and is currently in the tsunami-affected region to attend commemorative events, continued.
“The tsunami acted as a wake-up call and made us understand how vulnerable we are to hazards. We cannot avoid natural hazards, but we know enough to certainly prevent them from becoming disasters.”
2004: A view of the Indonesian city of Banda Aceh in the aftermath of the tsunami. WFP/Rein Skullerud
2014: Banda Aceh rebuilt – a scene from the city a decade after the tsunami hit. WFP/Rein Skullerud
A “major life-saving measure” to emerge from the tsunami tragedy, the UNISDR press release noted, was the Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning System, which now provides alerts through three regional watch centres – in India, Indonesia and Australia – and via a network of 26 national tsunami information centres. In 2012, it disseminated early warnings within eight minutes of the Banda Aceh, Indonesia earthquake.
Meanwhile, Ms. Wahlström explained, another “great lesson” of the tsunami was that coastal urban areas should be built in “a more sustainable and responsible way,” ensuring that they are able to withstand the brunt of future hazards.
“We must become more intelligent and aware in managing the risks around the location of critical infrastructure in hazard prone areas, whether the threat comes from floods, storms, earthquakes, heat waves or something else.”
The Hyogo Framework for Action, which expires in 2015, will soon be replaced as countries gather next year in Sendai, Japan, to develop a new disaster-preparedness plan to complement global agreements on climate change and sustainable development goals while also enhancing effective early warning systems.
The UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) and the Government of India today, in fact, announced “a major new contribution” of $1 million to the ESCAP Multi-Donor Trust Fund for Tsunami, Disaster and Climate Preparedness in Indian Ocean and Southeast Asian Countries. The Asia Pacific region, according to the UN, continues to remain “highly vulnerable to coastal hazards.”
In a press release welcoming the boost in funding, Shamshad Akhtar, the Executive Secretary of ESCAP, said the cash injection would help strengthen early warning systems and ensure that those communities that remain vulnerable receive timely warning information in the event of a disaster.
The partnership highlights the new directional shift adopted by the international community as Member States increasingly pivot from reactive to proactive approaches, emphasizing anticipative, multi-hazard risk reduction with prevention and mitigation of natural disasters.
2004: A scene of devastation in front of Hotel Medan in Aceh City centre. The force of the tsunami swept fishing boats like this one hundreds of metres inland, crashing into the city and destroying anything along the way. WFP/Rein Skullerud
2014: Ten years on, a view of Hotel Medan in Aceh City centre. WFP/Rein Skullerud
With 200 million people in Asia and the Pacific affected each year by a broad range of natural disasters between 2003 and 2013, and with the cost of those disasters averaging $34 billion each year between 2001 and 2010, the change in approach is essential.
Early disaster warning systems and clearly marked tsunami evacuation routes are evident in countries such as Thailand, which established a dedicated Government Department of National Disaster Prevention and Mitigation following the tsunami. In the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh, flood protection dykes have been built and there is a nationwide early warning system for flooding.
The 2004 tsunami has had an impact on the focus of UN development work in the Asia-Pacific region.
“Ten years on we have all learned lessons from the tsunami aid operation that have fundamentally altered the way we work,” Ted Chaiban, Director of Programmes of the UN Chilrden’s Fund (UNICEF), affirmed in a press release. “We have prioritised helping countries hit by disasters such as the tsunami to build back better – constructing earthquake-resilient schools, introducing safer water supplies, ensuring schools prepare children for emergencies and improving legal and social measures to protect children.”
In the Philippines, UNICEF’s education programme now includes emergency drills in schools that help prepare children for potential disasters, including the typhoons that regularly strike the country. Meanwhile, in Laos and other countries in the region, the UN agency installed disaster-resistant raised hand pumps in schools.
“UNICEF is determined that the legacy of the Indian Ocean tsunami must be more disaster-resilient societies for children – both in the region and around the world,” Mr. Chaiban concluded.
FRENCH VERSION
« Dix ans après le tsunami de l’océan Indien, le monde a pris desmesures importantes pour faire du monde un endroit plus sûrcontre les catastrophes, » confirmé Margareta Wahlström, le chefdu Bureau de l’ONU pour réduction de risque des catastrophes(UNISDR), dans un communiqué de presse publié aujourd’hui àl’occasion de l’anniversaire.
« Nous avons maintenant plus efficace d’alerte précoce et demeilleures procédures d’évacuation en place, » a-t-elle ajouté. « Ilest aussi une meilleure compréhension et prise de consciencedans le monde des dégâts large qui peuvent infliger descatastrophes sur nos sociétés. »
La pire catastrophe du monde enregistré naturelle a frappé larégion Asie–Pacifique en décembre 2004, a causé la mort de 227000 personnes et en laissant les moyens de subsistance dequelque 1,4 millions de survivants en lambeaux. Alors que la perteéconomique immédiate causée par l’événement a été estimée à $9,9 milliards, le tsunami a infligé également des dommagesenvironnementaux et de développement à long terme car l’eausalée contaminé la terre, effaçant de l’agriculture, les forêtsdommageables et les écosystèmes.
Dans le même temps, la dévastation généralisée et l’immensité dela catastrophe ont incité la communauté internationale en actionimmédiate. Juste trois semaines après le tsunami, pays Unis àHyogo (Japon) aux bateaux du cadre de Hyogo d’Action – lapremière complète entente mondiale sur la prévention descatastrophes.
« Depuis le tsunami de l’océan Indien et l’adoption du cadre deHyogo pour Action en 2005, ont été des changementssubstantiels dans la réflexion globale concernant les questions deréduction de risque catastrophe, » a poursuivi Mme Wahlström,qui a aidé à coordonner la réponse internationale en cas decatastrophe, il y a une dizaine d’années et est actuellement dansla région touchés par le tsunami pour assister aux événementscommémoratifs,.
“Le tsunami a agi comme un appel de réveil et nous a faitcomprendre que nous sommes comment vulnérables aux risques.Nous ne pouvons éviter risques naturels, mais nous en savonsassez pour certainement empêcher de devenir des catastrophes. »
Une « mesure de sauvetage majeure » pour sortir de la tragédiedu tsunami, le communiqué de presse UNISDR noté, a été lesystème d’alerte de Tsunami océan Indien, qui a maintenant desalertes par l’intermédiaire de trois centres régionaux montre – enInde, l’Indonésie et l’Australie – et via un réseau de 26 centresd’information nationaux tsunami. En 2012, il diffusé des alertesdans les huit minutes de la Banda Aceh, tremblement de terre del’Indonésie.
Pendant ce temps, Mme Wahlström a expliqué, un autre « grandeleçon » du tsunami était que les zones urbaines côtières doiventêtre générés « une manière plus durable et responsable, » veiller àce qu’ils sont capables de supporter le poids des risques futurs.
« Nous devons devenir plus intelligent et conscient dans lagestion des risques autour de l’emplacement des infrastructurescritiques dans les zones sujettes à risque, si la menace vient desinondations, tempêtes, tremblements de terre, les vagues dechaleur ou autre chose. »
Le cadre d’Action, qui expire en 2015, Hyogo remplacera bientôtque les pays se rassemblent l’année prochaine à Sendai, au Japon,à élaborer un nouveau plan de préparation aux catastrophes pourcompléter les accords mondiaux sur les changements climatiqueset les objectifs de développement durable tout en améliorant lessystèmes d’alerte précoce efficaces.
La Commission économique et sociale pour l’Asie et le Pacifique(CESAP) et le gouvernement de l’Inde aujourd’hui, en effet,annoncé « une contribution nouvelle majeure » de $ 1 millionpour le Fonds fiduciaire multidonateurs CESAP pour le Tsunami,en cas de catastrophe et de la protection climatique dans l’océanIndien et des pays de l’Asie du sud-est. La région Asie–Pacifique,selon l’ONU, continue de rester « très vulnérable aux aléas côtiers. »
Dans un communiqué de presse saluant le coup de pouce aufinancement, Shamshad Akhtar, le Secrétaire exécutif de la CESAP,a déclaré que l’injection de liquidités contribuerait à renforcer lessystèmes d’alerte précoce et de s’assurer que ces communautésqui restent vulnérables reçoivent en temps opportun desinformations d’alerte en cas de catastrophe.
