In the aftermath of tidal waves that horrified an unready world, hundreds of U.N. conference delegates Tuesday started examining ways to give man more of an edge in an age-old battle with the worst of nature.
"We must draw and act on every lesson we can," U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan told participants in the World Conference on Disaster Reduction, which opened with a moment of silence for more than 160,000 people killed in the December 26 earthquake-tsunami that destroyed coasts across south Asia.
"The world looks to this conference to help make communities and nations more resilient in the face of natural disasters," Annan said in his videotaped message.
The first day's agenda for the five-day meeting focused on routes to resilience: by protecting such critical facilities as hospitals and power plants against damage; building earthquake-safe structures, and bolstering communications systems, among others.
The Japanese government announced it would refocus its foreign aid program to put more emphasis on disaster reduction. Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, addressing the conference, also said his government would offer tsunami-warning training to countries struck by the powerful, earthquake-spawned wave that sped across the Indian Ocean last month.
An immediate conference goal is to lay the foundation for an Indian Ocean alert network like the one on guard for tsunamis in the Pacific. UNESCO is presenting a blueprint for a system of deep-water buoys, tide gauges and a regional alert center that would cost $30 million and go into operation by mid-2006. Several sessions will deal with the practicalities of the plan.
