UN official calls on concerted effort on disaster reduction

 Margareta Wahlstrom, Special Representative of the Secretary General of the United Nations for Disaster Risk Reduction, said on Monday all aspects of society should work together to reduce disaster risks.

It showed that the damage from disasters gets accelerated in developing countries as well as poor countries, Wahlstrom said at "Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH)" in Sarajevo, first of its kind in the BiH.

"With this conference, the BiH joins activities that are primarily related to socio-economic issues related to disasters and their prevention, and how to mitigate losses, both material and human," said Wahlstrom, adding that it needs all aspects of society to work to reduce risks.

Wahlstrom added the media have a particularly important role in educating the public, raising public awareness, not only about the disaster, but also levels of disaster in order to protect the population.

Fahrudin Radoncic, Security Minister of BiH, said all state institutions and communities should work on prevention of disasters.

The conference was attended by safety experts, officials and representatives from institutions dealing with risk reduction.

Source: ANTARA