The fifth edition of World Congress on Disaster Management (WCDM) was held virtually on November 24, 2021.
It was organized by Disaster Management Initiatives and Convergence Society (DMICS), Government of Delhi, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi, in collaboration with National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM).
Theme: The theme of the conference was “Technology, Finance and Capacity for Building Resilience to Disasters in the context of COVID-19”.
Aim: The aim is to promote interaction of science, policy and practices to enhance understanding of risks and advance actions for reducing risks and building resilience to disasters.
International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction, 2021
The International Day for Disaster Reduction is observed on 13 October annually to raise awareness about disaster reduction.
Theme for 2021 Edition: The 2021 edition focuses on the theme “International cooperation for developing countries to reduce their disaster risk and disaster losses” which is the sixth of the Sendai Seven targets.
Key Message
International cooperation for developing countries and capacity building is essential to boost disaster resilience in the face of extreme weather events and other natural and man-made hazards. It will ensure that no vulnerable people are left behind in disaster-prone settings, including women, children and youth, people with disabilities, the elderly, migrants and indigenous people.
The prevention of zoonotic diseases, pandemic preparedness, and equity in vaccine distribution should be priority areas for international cooperation.
Greater investment is needed in multi-hazard early warning systems in developing countries. Without real action on climate in the next ten years, extreme weather events will be overwhelming, especially for developing countries.
