The Yokohama Strategy and Plan of Action for a Safer World were adopted at the Yokohama conference on Disaster Reduction in May 1994. Ten years on, a major international event is being planned to assess the progress made against the plan of action from Yokohama. The event will be a platform for the presentation and adoption of specific goals, activities and policy measures, based on a review of the progress since Yokohama. This conference is of particular importance, as the commitment to and understanding of disaster management has been moving forward internationally, impacts of disasters continue to rise and remain a major obstacle to development. This recognition is of special resonance within the DMP, as it highlights the connections between relief and development and the need to devise new strategies for addressing this gap. Based on its close partnership with UNISDR, DMP/UN-HABITAT will play a leading role in the conference in Kobe in 2005.
