ISDE-8 Side Meeting

High-level Meeting on

Space Technology for Disaster Risk Reduction in Developing Countries

(Borneo Convention Centre, Kuching, Malaysia)

15:10 -17:30, 27 August, 2013

Preamble

Over the past decade, countries across the world - both rich and poor - have witnessed thousands of natural disasters. While developed countries have generally the technological resources needed to respond and recover from major disasters, the effect natural disasters can have on the environment and society of less developed countries can be devastating and long-lasting. High population density in risk-prone areas, poor infrastructure and unstable landforms make developing countries especially vulnerable to natural disasters. Earth observation and technology tied to Digital Earth - a global effort to create a virtual representation of the entire planet - can reduce costs and efforts needed to monitor and mitigate natural disasters and their effects. Numerous developing countries require support to develop disaster mitigation capacity that will allow them to fully benefit from opportunities offered by these advanced technologies.

Meeting Goals

Building capacity in space technology applications for disaster risk reduction is a strategic issue for developing countries, whose implementation includes, inter alia, basic scientific research, infrastructure development, system design, development of a disaster management legal framework, and enhancements to the educational system. Questions such as what are the key challenges confronting developing countries in promoting disaster mitigation using space technology, and how to overcome obstacles and close gaps between what we know and what we do.

Finding answers to the above questions involves not only national governments, but also the collective efforts of international organizations. In the High-level Meeting at the 8^th International Symposium on Digital Earth (ISDE-8) the ongoing and future activities of disaster mitigation in developing countries using space technology will be presented and discussed, focusing on the technology demands and challenges in disaster management and mitigation, and opportunities for multilateral activities.

Agenda：   Agenda.docx

Annex 1：   Annex 1 Proposed Items for Joint Working Group on Space Technology for Disaster Risk Reduction in Developing Countries.docx

Annex 2：   Annex 2 Proposed Joint Statement on Disaster Mitigation Cooperation in Developing Countries.docx