Early warning saves lives, but communities need targeted, useful information | Division for Inclusive Social Development (DISD)

When disaster strikes, the surest way to save more lives is to get targeted, practical information quickly out to communities, United Nations experts told delegations gathered in Sendai, Japan, but stressed that even the most technically impressive systems “are useless” if people are not reached or do not understand the warning.

Throughout several events at the Third World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction, running in Sendai through Wednesday 18 March, UN experts, Government and civil society officials spotlighted the essential need for effective early warning systems to raise risk awareness, ensure proactive preventive action to help communities reduce, if not prevent, loss of lives and property.

The Executive Secretary of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Intergovernmental Ocean Committee, Vladimir Ryabinin, said that early warning set-ups had to provide information that is usable and used.

“Even the most advanced systems in the world are useless if people do not respond to the warning,” Mr. Ryabinin told participants at the Conference's 'Lessons from Mega-Disasters' session. “People need to know what to do in the event of a tsunami. We need to educate people. Japan provides an excellent example in this.”

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