HON Chairman
Hon Ministers of State
The UNDP Resident Representative
Ag National Coordinator of NADMO
Invited Dignitaries
Members of the Media
Ladies and Gentlemen

Today, Ghana joins other UN member countries to celebrate this year’s World Disaster Reduction Day. The Day is an occasion for the identification, motivation and mobilization of the collaborating agencies to ensure effective coordinated efforts for disaster prevention.

In the 1980s, the increasing number of disasters and their devastating impacts worldwide compelled the United Nations to hold various conferences on the issue. This led to the United Nations declaring the period 1990 to 1999 as the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction (IDNDR).

This global programme which ended in 1999 was to create hazard/disaster awareness, towards prevention as well as, mitigate the effects of those which are not preventable, and to build capacity for pro-active management of disasters. The United Nations has since the year 2000 instituted the celebration of the World Disaster Reduction Day with the objective of moving World Disaster Management to a higher stage.

This implies the building of pro-active prevention and mitigation mechanisms rather than reaction to disasters. It is also to strengthen and sustain disaster awareness and to build effective response mechanisms on them.

Ladies and Gentlemen, as indicated earlier, the international theme for the celebration of this year’s World Disaster Reduction is “Disaster Risk Reduction Begins at School”. We as Government will ensure that schools are made safer by integrating Disaster Risk Reduction into school curricula.

It has been established that children, especially those in school are among the most vulnerable population when disaster strikes.

In Ghana, the effects of catastrophes such as floods, domestic fire outbreaks, collapse of buildings as well as outbreak of epidemics like cholera and the recent Avian Influenza are just a few tragic examples of why more effort is needed to be protect our children before disaster happens.

In our society, children represent our hope for the future. And, schools, due to their direct link to the youth, are regarded as institutions of learning, for instilling cultural values and passing on both traditional and conventional knowledge to younger generations.

Protecting our children from disaster therefore, requires standardized and sustained disaster risk reduction education in all our schools. Integrating disaster risk education into national curricula and building safe school facilities are two factors that can protect resources for development and contribute to our nation’s progress towards the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals.

Children who are educated on hazard risks tend to play an important role in saving lives and protecting members of their communities in times of disaster. Making disaster risk education part of national school curricula will foster awareness and better understanding about the immediate environment in which children and their families live and work.

As future leaders, our youth must acquire safety habits that will be useful to them as individuals, to their families, communities and to the country as a whole.

The concept of Disaster Management as an integral part of national development has been accepted worldwide. It is worth mentioning that the government of Ghana has recognized this principle, and incorporated it into the country’s Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategy Document.

As we enter an era when the function of our National Disaster Management Organisation is being refocused on Disaster Risk Reduction, I wish to state that Government will do its best to ensure that the Organisation is well resourced to play its pivotal role in Disaster Prevention in this country.

As disaster risk reduction is everybody’s business and in everybody’s interest, I wish to call on all stakeholders to join in the campaign to achieve the objective of the theme for this year’s World Disaster Reduction Day Celebration. Together we can build safer schools for our children.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Distinguished Invited Guests, on this note, I have the honour to formally declare the programme of activities drawn up for this year’s World Disaster Reduction Day duly launched.

Thank you and God bless us all.