International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction

International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction (IDDRR) is observed on the 13 October.
The theme for the 2023 International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction is “Fighting inequality for a resilient future” and aligns with the Sendai Framework, the
international agreement to prevent and reduce losses in lives, livelihoods, economies same coin: unequal access to services, such as finance and insurance, leaves the most at risk and basic infrastructure. This year IDDRR will explore the reciprocal relationship between disasters and inequality. Inequality and disaster vulnerability are two sides of the exposed to the danger of disasters; while disaster impacts exacerbate inequalities and push the most at risk further into poverty.

Some of the messages for 2023 International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction are:
· Poverty, inequality and discrimination are causes and consequences of growing disaster risk. · Inequality creates the conditions that render people exposed and vulnerable to disasters. Disasters also disproportionately impact the poorest and most at risk people, thus worsening inequality. Reducing vulnerability to disasters requires addressing these dimensions.
· By 2030, with current climate projections, the world will face some 560 disasters per year. An additional estimated 37.6 million people will be living in conditions of extreme poverty due to the impacts of climate change and disasters by 2030.
A “worst case” scenario of climate change and disasters will push an additional 100.7 million into poverty by 2030.
· But there is still time to make a difference. We can curb the destructive power of hazards—in other words, stop them from turning into disasters—through careful and coordinated planning that is designed to reduce people’s exposure and vulnerability to harm.
· Continue to encourage greater investments in the collection and use of disaggregated data, both to better understand disproportionate disaster impacts and exposure, and to inform resilience-building plans.

At the ODM and nationally we are doing our part to address disaster risk and you too have a role to play.