World Calamity Control Day Image: NDRF rescuing flood-hit people in Dhemaji, Assam (17-9-2020)
World Calamity Control Day also known as the International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction aims to make our habitat - rural and urban - safe from calamities, which can displace and kill millions of people. Whether it is a natural hazard or a man-made disaster, the level of preparedness of disaster management bodies saves lives. This year World Calamity Control Day assumes greater significance amid the coronavirus pandemic.World Calamity Control Day is a United Nations designated day observed on October 13 every year.
World Calamity Control Day: Theme and significance
The focus of World Calamity Control Day this year amid the pandemic is "all about governance", according to United Nations. Strategies and quick response at the local and national level is of prime importance in saving lives and properties. This in turn reduces economic loses and people can resume normal lives faster.
According to the world body, "COVID-19 and the climate emergency are telling us that we need clear vision, plans and competent, empowered institutions acting on scientific evidence for the public good."
World Calamity Control Day Image: Cyclone Amphan devastated thousands of homes in West Bengal in June
World Calamity Control Day: History
The World Calamity Day dedicated to disaster risk reduction was started in 1989. The United Nations General Assembly called for a day to "promote a global culture of risk-awareness and disaster reduction". Landmark steps were taken at the Third UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction at Sendai in Japan in 2015. Sendai had suffered a devastating earthquake and tsunami in 2011 in which 20,000 people lost their lives.
The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction is a "people-focused and action-oriented approach to disaster risk reduction and applies to the risk of small-scale and large-scale disasters caused by man-made, or natural hazards, as well as related environmental, technological and biological hazards and risks."