U.N. asks Asia-Pacific countries to invest more in preventing damage from disasters

U.N. official warns of increasing disasters in Asia Pacific, urges more investment in mitigation and prevention efforts.

Disasters, including those wrought by fiercer storms, threaten more people and could derail economic progress in the Asia Pacific region if governments don't invest more in disaster mitigation and prevention, a U.N. official said Tuesday, October 15, 2024.

U.N. Assistant Secretary-General Kamal Kishore, who heads the U.N. Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, issued the warning in a speech at the start of a regional conference on disaster mitigation hosted by the Philippines, one of the world's most disaster-prone countries.

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"Disasters are now affecting record numbers of people and threatening their lives and livelihoods,” Mr. Kishore told hundreds of delegates to the three-day conference in Manila led by Ministers in charge of disaster mitigation and response across the Asia Pacific.

"Left unchecked, these disaster risks threaten to derail the development aspirations of the Asia Pacific region and push back progress that has taken decades to achieve,” he said.