World Tsunami Awareness Day

Recalling the Sendai Declaration and the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030, adopted at the Third United Nations World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction, as endorsed by the General Assembly in its resolution 69/283 of 3 June 2015, and recognizing that one of the priorities for action of the Sendai Framework is an understanding of disaster risk for prevention and mitigation and for the development and implementation of appropriate preparedness and effective response to disasters, which continue to undermine efforts to achieve sustainable development,

Reaffirming its resolution 70/1 of 25 September 2015, entitled “Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”, in which it adopted a comprehensive, far-reaching and people-centred set of universal and transformative Sustainable Development Goals and targets, its commitment to working tirelessly for the full implementation of this Agenda by 2030, its recognition that eradicating poverty in all its forms and dimensions, including extreme poverty, is the greatest global challenge and an indispensable requirement for sustainable development, its commitment to achieving sustainable development in its three dimensions — economic, social and environmental — in a balanced and integrated manner, and to building upon the achievements of the Millennium Development Goals and seeking to address their unfinished business,

Reaffirming also its resolution 69/313 of 27 July 2015 on the Addis Ababa Action Agenda of the Third International Conference on Financing for Development, which is an integral part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, supports and complements it, helps to contextualize its means of implementation targets with concrete policies and actions, and reaffirms the strong political commitment to address the challenge of financing and creating an enabling environment at all levels for sustainable development in the spirit of global partnership and solidarity,

Recalling its resolution 69/219 of 19 December 2014 and reaffirming that, in 2009, the General Assembly designated 13 October as the date to commemorate the International Day for Disaster Reduction,

Recognizing the support for the creation of a World Tsunami Day, expressed in the Leaders’ Declaration of the seventh Japan-Pacific Islands Leaders Meeting, held on 22 and 23 May 2015, and in the New Tokyo Strategy 2015 for Mekong-Japan Cooperation, adopted at the Seventh Mekong-Japan Summit on 4 July 2015,

Reaffirming its resolutions 53/199 of 15 December 1998 and 61/185 of 20 December 2006 on the proclamation of international years, and Economic and Social Council resolution 1980/67 of 25 July 1980 on international years and anniversaries, particularly paragraphs 1 to 10 of the annex thereto on the agreed criteria for the proclamation of international years/days, as well as paragraphs 13 and 14, which state that an international year/day should not be proclaimed before the basic arrangements for its organization and financing have been made,

Emphasizing that tsunamis have claimed many lives and caused tremendous damage and are a common challenge for many countries, as was witnessed, inter alia, in Chile in 1960, in the Philippines in 1976, in Papua New Guinea in 1998, in Turkey in 1999, in Peru in 2001, in the coastal States of the Indian Ocean in 2004, off the coast of Samoa and Tonga in 2009 and in eastern Japan in 2011,

Recognizing the significance of preparedness and the prompt dissemination of information through early warning systems, the use of traditional knowledge and the concept of “Building back better” in the recovery, rehabilitation and reconstruction phases in order to protect the lives of people and prevent the damage caused by tsunamis, as referred to in the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015 – 2030,

1. Decides to designate 5 November as World Tsunami Awareness Day; (The designation of 5 November comes from the “Inamura-no-hi” anecdote about a villager who, on 5 November 1854, at the expense of his property, saved the lives of village inhabitants by setting fire to his sheaves of rice, thus quickly disseminating information about a tsunami, leading to the evacuation of the village, which he then made an effort to build back better.)

2. Invites all Member States, organizations of the United Nations system, other international and regional organizations, as well as civil society, including non-governmental organizations and individuals, to observe World Tsunami Awareness Day in an appropriate manner and in accordance with national priorities, in order to raise public awareness of the risk caused by tsunamis;

3. Requests the secretariat of the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction, in collaboration with relevant organizations of the United Nations system, mindful of the provisions of the annex to Economic and Social Council resolution 1980/67, to facilitate the observance of World Tsunami Awareness Day, and stresses that the cost of all activities that may arise from the implementation of the present resolution should be met from voluntary contributions.

(81st plenary meeting. Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 22 December 2015 A/RES/70/203)

Source: un.org