Brussels, 14/10/2015 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 13 October, the International Day for Disaster Reduction, MEPs from the European Parliament's development committee called for more support to be given to local knowledge in addressing this challenge.
This year, the International Day focused on Knowledge for Life, and it paid tribute to the communities that have shown excellence in disaster risk management so as to draw public attention to the importance of local knowledge, traditions and customs for building more resilient and sustainable societies.
“We know that investment in risk reduction and preparedness pays off. We also know very well that disasters hit the local populations the hardest, and thus their knowledge and capacity to prevent, manage and respond to disasters is essential. In fact, without knowledge about disaster risks you cannot successfully manage them and build resilience. It is time to rely more strongly on traditional, local and indigenous knowledge”, MEPs from the development committee, chaired by Linda McAvan (S&D, UK), stated.
Recalling that in 2014, over 19 million people were displaced by disasters, “many of which were exacerbated by climate change”, McAvan underlined that, combined with modern science such as meteorological reports, this silent knowledge, which is passed on from generation to generation, “can greatly contribute to reducing risk and building resilience in many parts of the world”. Moreover, this was the message of the Sendai Framework that was adopted in March, the MEPs stated. They also welcomed the European Commission's recent launch of a new online knowledge centre - the Disaster Risk Management Knowledge Centre (DRMKC) - for advising member states and thus for improving the EU's disaster response. The new DRMKC will complement the work of the EU Civil Protection Mechanism (see EUROPE 11400).
Knowledge of early warning signals in nature can be vital to ensuring that early action is taken to mitigate the impact of both slow and fast onset disasters such as droughts, heatwaves, storms and floods. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)