Side event on World Tsunami Awareness Day 2018

Summary

"Reducing Human and Economic Impacts from Tsunamis"

A joint IOC/UNESCO and UNISDR High Level Panel Discussion to discuss policies and practices to reduce tsunami risks in countries highly dependent on tourism revenues. Background: In December 2015, the UN General Assembly Resolution A/70/203 designated 5 November as World Tsunami Awareness Day (WTAD) and tasked the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction to coordinate the commemoration of the Day. The 3rd WTAD will focus on Target (c) of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030 which aims at reducing disaster-related economic losses in relation to global GDP by 2030. Tsunamis are rare events, that can be among the deadliest and costliest hazards when they do happen. They affect many economic sectors but agriculture, housing and tourism are the most vulnerable. In 2004, the Indian Ocean Tsunami killed more than 228,000 people and caused over $10 billion damage. In 2011, the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami in Japan killed 22,000 people, destroyed 138,000 buildings and costed more than US$360 billion. To commemorate the 2018 World Tsunami Awareness Day and raise awareness on the economic impacts of tsunamis and on “the last mile” of the tsunami early warning system, UNESCO-IOC and UNISDR will organize a two-hour High Level Panel Discussion to discuss policies and practices to reduce tsunami risks in countries highly dependent on tourism revenues. Simultaneous interpretation* in English, French and Spanish will be provided at the session. The meeting is open to public but you need to register in advance at: https://en.unesco.org/wtad2018. Deadline for registration - 12 October 2018. The event will be also webcast live:* floor English * The interpretation of proceedings serves to facilitate communication and does not constitute an authentic record of the proceedings. Only the original speech is authentic.

Notes

13:00-15:30 IOC/UNESCO Headquarters 7, place de Fontenoy 75007 Paris The meeting will be held at the IOC/UNESCO Headquarters in Paris. More details on the transport from the airport and other useful information on your stay in Paris (including list of hotels near the IOC/UNESCO Headquarters) may be found on the webpage Visiting IOC.