Nay Pyi Daw, 16 October 2014 – The International Day for Disaster Reduction was commemorated at the National and Regional levels in Myanmar on 13 October 2014 by the Government of Myanmar, UN Agencies, International and National Non-Governmental Organizations, Civil Society, Elderly Persons and Students.

While speaking about the theme of the IDDR this year, ‘Resilience is for Life’, His Excellency U Nyan Tun, Vice President of Myanmar, stressed upon the importance of governance and capacity development in the area of disaster risk reduction for Myanmar. He highlighted the role of strategies and institutional arrangements such as the National Disaster Preparedness Central Committee, Disaster Management Law, Youth Volunteer’s Training and community-based disaster preparedness and the National Disaster Management Training Centre. The UN Resident Coordinator reiterated the support of the International Community towards a resilient Myanmar.

UN-Habitat helped organize the event, along with its partners, and showcased the support it has been providing to the Government and people of Myanmar in building resilience in areas of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene, Shelter, community-based capacity development, skills training for elderly persons through ‘People Process’ and policy level on access-related issues through the Myanmar National Building Code. It also presented the technical support it is providing in the establishment of the National Disaster Management Training Centre as the lead of a consortium of International and National Agencies.

The day was also widely commemorated at the state and regional levels in Myanmar. UN-Habitat collaborated on the events as a part of the Disaster Risk Reduction Working Group in six states and regions of Myanmar (Ayeyarwaddy, Yangon, Mandalay, Bago, Shan and Thaninthyiri) with support provided by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Commission and USAID.