Accra, Oct. 13, GNA - Dr. Kwasi Apea-Kubi, Deputy Minister of Interior, on Wednesday launched "World Disaster Day" in Accra with an appeal to the public to stop practices that cause man-made disasters. He said efforts should be made to reduce the numerous perennial floods and fire outbreaks that continued to claim lives and destroy properties.

The Day is on the theme: "Making Cities Resilient: My City Is Getting Ready." The launch of the Day was organized by the National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO) in collaboration with the Local Government Service.

The campaign also aims at achieving resilient and sustainable urban communities.

Dr. Apea-Kubi said although rapid urbanization brought prosperity to people, unplanned settlements and slums increased crowding of cities and blocked waterways and posed danger to inhabitants. "Rapid urbanization generates a number of risks when combined with the impact of extreme climate events and increased poverty", he said. Mr. Ban Ki-Moon, United Nations Secretary-General, in a statement read for him by Ms. Sandhu-Rojon, UN Resident Coordinator, said floods, earthquakes and storm surges were even deadlier now than in the past due to increasing urbanization.

Over 100 cities had signed up to the "Ten Essentials" action under the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction campaign called "Making Cities Resilient", he said. Mr. Ban said the Ten Essentials translated broad ideas into workable solutions.

They recommend, among others, that governments assign a budget to serve everyone, invest in risk assessment, training on disaster risk reduction and early warning signs.

Mr. Ban stated that the International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction was an opportunity to focus attention on the work that could be done to make communities in the world safer from disasters. He said cities and towns covered about one to three per cent of the earth's surface and were home to more than 50 per cent of the world's population.

Mr. Ban said 74 per cent of these urban dwellers living in low and middle income nations were exposed to unacceptable levels of risks. He urged governments, civil society, international financial institutions and the private sector to step up their collective efforts by investing in tangible risk reduction measures that could reduce vulnerability and protect development.

Mr. Kofi Portuphy, National Coordinator of NADMO, said the theme of the campaign did not exclude smaller communities but focused more on cities because they were more prone to disasters due to practices such as building on waterways and disposing of garbage in drains which caused flooding.