Scientists get to work on early warning system<\/p>\n
Agencies, Kobe, Japan<\/p>\n
More than 150 countries got to work on Tuesday on drafting a
\nglobal action plan to save lives during disasters, with the
\nUnited Nations saying the effort needed to be quicker and better
\nfunded in the wake of the Asian tsunamis.<\/p>\n
Around 4,000 scientists and officials would spend five days to
\nset goals for all nations ranging from an early-warning system
\nfor disasters to standards for safe buildings, UN chief
\nhumanitarian coordinator Jan Egeland said.<\/p>\n
The conference in the western Japanese city of Kobe is due to
\nset goals to be met by 2015, but Egeland urged a shorter time-
\nframe.<\/p>\n
\"Ten years from now, there should be no country without a
\ndisaster prevention program,\" he said.<\/p>\n
\"I am acutely aware of how much is being spent on our being
\nfire brigades, of putting plaster on the wounds, and too little
\npreventing the devastation and the suffering in the first place,\"
\nEgeland said.<\/p>\n
Egeland, who famously accused rich countries of being
\n\"stingy,\" called in Kobe for donors to devote money to prevention
\nmeasures and for more \"newly rich\" countries to contribute.<\/p>\n
\"I would propose that over the next 10 years a minimum of 10
\npercent of the large sums now spent on emergency relief by all
\nnations should be earmarked for disaster reduction,\" Egeland
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan urged the world on Tuesday to
\nlearn from the killer Asian tsunami, saying spending now could
\nlimit the loss of life and damage from inevitable natural
\ndisasters.<\/p>\n
Investing smaller sums before disasters could reduce the toll
\nsuch catastrophes take in lives and in money, Annan said at the
\nstart of a 5-day conference in the Japanese city of Kobe, which
\nis marking the 10th anniversary of a quake that killed 6,433
\npeople.<\/p>\n
\"It's not enough to pick up the pieces,\" Annan said in a video
\nmessage following a moment of silence for tsunami victims. \"We
\nmust draw on every lesson we can to avoid such catastrophes in
\nthe future.\"<\/p>\n
Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi proposed to the
\nconference that his government would help the effort by setting
\nup a global database on relief and reconstruction and a center on
\nwater hazards.<\/p>\n
The World Conference on Disaster Reduction was originally
\ndesigned as a meeting of scientists and low-level civil servants
\non the 10th anniversary of the devastating earthquake in Kobe
\nfrom which the city has rapidly rebuilt.<\/p>\n
But registration doubled after the Dec. 26 disaster which
\nkilled more than 175,000 people and led to outrage as to why
\nIndian Ocean nations were so ill-prepared.<\/p>\n
Egeland noted that the world had accurate means to predict
\nmost disasters but the problem was how to get the message out in
\npoor countries which suffer worst.<\/p>\n
\"Early-warning systems targeting vulnerable communities should
\nbe put in place in all disaster-prone areas,\" Egeland said.<\/p>\n
\"Children everywhere should be learning about safe havens
\naround them as part of their basic education. Communities
\neverywhere should be better trained to handle disasters,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
The tsunamis have drawn an outpouring of global sympathy in
\npart because of the unprecedented international nature of the
\nnatural disaster -- nationals of more than 50 countries died or
\nremain missing.<\/p>\n
Some 478,100 were killed in disasters around the world since
\n1994, a drop by one-third compared with the previous decade, but
\nthe number of people affected went up by 60 percent to 2.5
\nbillion, according to figures provided by conference organizers.<\/p>\n
In a separate development, tsunami experts on Tuesday proposed
\nmaking Dec. 26 an international day of commemoration of Asia's
\ntsunami disaster, saying the simple idea could be just as
\neffective as a pricey warning system in preparing people for the
\ngiant waves.<\/p>\n
\"We have to talk about how we can maintain 100 years and 200
\nyears from now that people know what a tsunami is,\" Harry Yeh, a
\nprofessor of tsunamis at Oregon State University, said on the
\nfirst day of a United Nations disaster reduction conference.<\/p>\n
\"Can we make December 26th an international tsunami day to
\njust keep reminding people of this event?\" Yeh told a panel
\ndiscussion. \"If we make this day an international holiday, people
\nwill remember what a tsunami is.\"<\/p>\n
\"I think it will probably be a good idea,\" Laura Kong,
\ndirector of the International Tsunami Information Center of the
\nUN educational and scientific organization UNESCO, said of a
\nglobal tsunami day.<\/p>\n
\"I think it's such a tragic event but we can make this an
\ninternational awareness event and continue it over the years,\"
\nKong told AFP. \"That's the challenge.\"<\/p>\n
Fumihiko Imamura, head of the Disaster Control Research Center
\nof Japan, told a news conference: \"We have reached consensus that
\nwe need to create the memorial day. We will introduce this idea
\nwidely during the conference.\"<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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