The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies
(IFRC) appreciates the opportunity to address the issue of past
and future progress on human settlement.
The IFRC and its member National Red Cross and Red Crescent
Societies (RC/RC) everywhere in the world are committed to contributing,
where appropriate, to these objectives and recommendations.
Indeed the IFRC partners with UN-HABITAT through an MoU to share
programme and technical exchange and hopes to strengthen this
relationship in the future.
The natural disasters witnessed over the past months; Bam, the
Tsunami, Katrina and others, are only a reminder of how critical
sustainable urban planning and construction are to reducing
vulnerability and risk, particularly in hazardous locations.
Construction site planning and city development must be guided
by a disaster-prevention culture, planned in a way able to absorb
population growth, with adequate water, sanitation and waste
management to ensure a healthy environment and reduce or avoid
diseases and epidemics.
RC/RC societies around the world have implemented community-based
settlement programs that contribute to this objective, both
during and after disasters hit and as longer-term activities.
One such example is the Zenhoum project run by Egyptian Red
Crescent following the powerful earthquake which struck Cairo
in 1992 leaving thousands without homes or livelihoods. Since
then, an integrated approach with ministries of health, social
affairs and education, the Governor of Cairo, the local government
in Assalam City and elected representatives of the community
has successfully made Al-Nahda a safe home for some 240'000
people.
During the earthquake last month, in Pakistan administered Kashmir,
in just one single school 250 young girls bodies were pulled
from the ruins.
We have to take action in the face of such unacceptable situations!
Protecting lives in disasters is first and foremost a task of
government. As auxiliaries to public authorities, Red Cross/Red
Crescent Societies can play a role. When settlements are destroyed
one of the first priorities is to quickly establish emergency
shelter.
The IFRC has long responded to such demands through the rapid
provision of tents and other emergency solutions, now such a
critical element of our response to the Pakistan earthquake
and the Indian Ocean Tsunami.
The IFRC is applying lessons learned in the aftermath of the
Armenian earthquake and Hurricane Mitch by increasingly expanding
into early-recovery housing. In consultation with HABITAT, OCHA,
UNDP and other we have engaged in the provision of transitional
homes and the planning and reconstruction of destroyed settlements.
This includes permanent homes, schools, hospitals and clinics
in Banda Aceh, Sri Lanka, the Maldives and now in Pakistan.
The importance of disaster preparedness and risk reduction in
all its forms is reflected in the Agenda for Humanitarian Action
of the 28th International Red Cross/Red Crescent Movement's
Conference in December 2003.
The Movement and the 192 governments of the States parties to
the Geneva Conventions jointly committed to a plan of action
which includes reducing vulnerability in relation to the risk
and impact of natural disasters and diseases which are often
caused by the lack of safe drinking water supply, appropriate
sanitation system, and unhealthy housing conditions.
Mr Chairman, States seek to protect their citizens with hazard
control and prevention measures. Among them secured human settlement
is a requirement. Adequate planning and construction to prepare
for the unexpected should include cost-effective flood, earthquake
and storm disaster resistance, which are effective means to
prevent the future loss of the limited resources of the poor.
In creating a national plan a system for disaster risk management,
including a risk reduction element is critical. In the context
we are debating, establishment of regulations for construction
and ensuring the availability of sufficient resources and capacities
to achieve this must involve all parties concerned.
Development needs to be underpinned by good governance and must
be done with the participation of the people in need, in particular
the poor living in disaster prone areas. It is in this area
where the Red Cross/Red Crescent wide network of branches, staff
and volunteers can add significant value-added.
The most vulnerable populations, very often the poor, require
particular attention as poverty often forces them to live in
fragile settlements in the most hazardous locations.
We see the possibility to improve the lives of 100 million slum
dwellers by 2015 as the MDG target, however recent sources indicate
that while that is happening, another 600 million people may
well been drawn into the misery of slum life!
Poor people, particularly the poorest of the poor, are more
vulnerable to the downward spiral. They are often more prone
to disease and disasters due to their habitat and their situation,
and additionally they have more limited access to social support
systems.
To improve their lives we must start with vulnerability and
risk reduction and resilience and capacity building. We must
remember the lessons of the recent past. Populations are more
and more concentrated in urban areas according to the report
of the Institute for Environment and Human Security of the United
Nations University in Bonn.
Environmental deterioration already displaces up to 10 million
a year and the situation could get worse. Confronting this trend
and reversing it takes time.
The benefits of laws, policies, and programs mitigating this
risk must be thought through and continually and carefully modified
to achieve their desired results.
10 years ago, more than 5000 people perished in the city of
Kobe, Japan. The loss of so many lives, in a country where so
much effort had been made to prepare for earthquakes, shocked
observers worldwide.
As we remembered them on 17 January this year in Kobe, before
the World Conference on Disaster Reduction, we must continue
pursuing the Hyogo Framework for Action 2005-2015 to reduce
the vulnerability to hazards.
Mr Chairman, Preparing for disasters, particularly those occurring
in densely populated urban areas, mitigating their effects and
responding to their consequences require effective cooperation
by a broad range of actors including the United Nations, civil
society and international organizations such as the IFRC. Only
through such cooperation can our collective objective to create
resilient communities, well protected and well organized, become
a reality.
The IFRC and its worldwide network of Red Cross and Red Crescent
member societies are committed to this goal.
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