“Shared Risks, Shared Responsibility: Opportunities for Cooperation”

Ambassador Fasel
Special Representative Wahlström
Excellencies
Distinguished Delegates
Ladies and gentlemen:

It is my pleasure to welcome you to the opening of this photo exhibition, an initiative of the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction. I would like to take this opportunity to express my appreciation to both Special Representative Wahlström and Ambassador Fasel and the Swiss Permanent Mission for making this event possible. Switzerland’s knowledge and practical expertise in this area have been a great asset to the international community and I thank our Host Country for this.

Disaster risk reduction as it exists today is the result of over 30 years of work. It is characterized by a global cooperative network that is adaptable, active and, by definition, ahead of its time – because understanding risk and planning against disaster requires being able to imagine the future in all its possibilities.

We see these achievements in the photographs before us today. Boosting food security; finding a balanced relationship with the environment; understanding and applying knowledge of what makes cities resilient; communicating and transmitting knowledge from one generation to the next. These are important examples of the work of the United Nations in this field.

Yet these photographs also show our challenges. Our desire to live in cities can - in some parts of the world - mean overcrowding, resource depletion, and pressure on infrastructure. Our wish for ever-faster economic growth may result in higher carbon emissions, as well as in changes to our atmosphere and climate. Our aim to settle in all corners of the world means more people living on coasts, next to rivers, and in earthquake zones that expose people and economic assets to risk.
Disaster risk reduction, therefore, is an attempt to reconcile our aspirations with their inherent risks. This May, under the aegis of United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, his Special Representative for Disaster Risk Reduction Margareta Wahlström, and our host country, Switzerland, the international community will meet here in Geneva to focus on future trends at the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction. Geneva is the perfect stage for these discussions, as it is here that the Secretary-General’s prevention agenda is broadly implemented by actors throughout the UN system.

Excellencies,
Ladies and gentlemen:

Reconciling our common aspirations for a better world with the risks that come with achieving them is a shared responsibility. As we enjoy the exhibition, let us all reflect on the role played by our nations and our communities in this regard.

Thank you very much.