Fairfield, New Zealand, November 14, 2014 /PressReleasePing/ - Disasters can occur anywhere, anytime, at any location, to any society. The past few decades have witnessed a significant increase in natural disasters. According to the UN statistics, nearly 400-500 natural disasters and calamities take place annually. Major vicissitudes and overall global variations like climate change, loss of biodiversity, constant and rapid environmental degradation, ozone forfeiture mutilations and global warming are the key reasons and causative emancipations to disasters increase. The devastative consequences of such cataclysms, that are posed with the detrimental damages to the global communities, their infrastructures and in their overall socio-economic set-ups, are becoming exceedingly and alarmingly high. Asia's 2004-Tsunami alone, devastated over 6 countries, leaving over 3 million as homeless, hundreds of thousands as displaced and, with a toll rate exceeding 2,70,000.

In view of the afore-mentioned corresponding facts, the United Nations designated an International Observance Day for Disaster Reduction, in 1989 with the approval by it's General Assembly. The UN General Assembly sees the IDDR as a way to promote a global culture of disaster reduction, including disaster prevention, mitigation and preparedness. Originally celebrated as per resolution 44/236, 22 December 1989, the UN General Assembly decided to designate 10/13 as the date to celebrate the IDDR (resolution 64/200, 21 December 2009).

International Day for Disaster Reduction is a day to celebrate how people and communities are reducing their risk to disasters and raising awareness about the importance of DRR. It's also a day to encourage every citizen and government to take part in building more disaster resilient communities and nations.

The 2014 theme for the International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction "Resilience is for Life", is part of a 'Step Up Initiative', that started in 2011 through 2014.

The step-up initiative 2011-2014 focuses on a different group of partners every year leading up to the World Conference for Disaster Reduction in 2015.

This year the focus of the International Day for Disaster Reduction was on older people, including their needs and what they contribute to better planning and understanding of disaster risk in their communities. IDDR 2014 intended to switch on and amplify this critical issue now and for the post-2015 framework for disaster risk reduction.

As the year 2014, categorically marks the conclusive year for the 'Step-up Initiative', as well as the second-last round up for Hyogo Framework of Action, the celebrations got an extraordinary extended elegance. The day and the theme "Resilience is for life" were used to boost age-inclusive disaster risk reduction across the world from Kathmandu to Canberra, and from Addis Ababa to Beijing.

Various organizations, groups and institutions around the world celebrated the UN-IDDR from 11/13 through end of the month, followed by workshops, seminars and symposiums. Since the role of science cannot be over-sighted in the DRR contexts, the fortnight-long celebrations concluded up by a convergence of IDDR to the UN's World Science Day for Peace and Development UN-WSDPD-2014.

A record tweeting--over 4.3 million tweets were propelled up and sent to UTC on IDDR-2014 in a thunderclap announcement in support of age inclusive disaster risk reduction.

People found themselves in a transformative sort of company alongside the UN family, the Kofi Annan Foundation, the International Telecommunications Union, the World Meteorological Organization, the Tear Fund, ODI, the Axa Research Fund, Inspectorate for Emergency Situation Petrodava Romania, Southwest Neighborhood Assembly (SWNA), SAIRI Research Initiative Pakistan, NARRI Consortium Bangladesh, Plan International Laos and several others UNISDR's partner for this year's campaign.

Indonesia marked IDDR-2014 by piloting a National Conference on Community Based DRR, organized by Indonesia's Disaster Management Society, in collaboration with Plan International.

Plan International also organized a National Symposium on DRR and Resilience, in Kathmandu. Nepal.

Saritsa Foundation, India organized workshops in Mumbai and Maharashtra, for older people (Seniors and Super Seniors) to raise social awareness for the needs of such people to protect their lives and make use of their valuable experience to develop resilience.

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