World Tsunami Awareness Day 5 November

To achieve the goal of the Sendai Framework of reducing global disaster risks and losses, the theme of World Tsunami Awareness Day 2024, which is on 5 November, we will be commemorating the 20^thanniversary of the Indian Ocean Tsunami by passing its lessons to a new generation of children and youth.

Key messages

• The 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami was the first global disaster of the 21st century and remains one of the deadliest disasters in recent human history  
• In the aftermath of this tragedy emerged a commitment to global cooperation for local resilience. This resulted in the creation of a tsunami early warning system that benefits 27 countries around the Indian Ocean basin.   
• Globally, over 700 million people in low-lying coastal areas and Small Island Developing States are exposed to extreme sea-level events, including tsunami (World Health Organization, 2019) 
• An early warning system can be effective only when the population is well aware of tsunami risk and knows what to do in case of an emergency.  This means ensuring that at-risk populations have equal access to information and evacuation routes (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, 2022). 
• We’re calling on governments and partners to act now to raise awareness of tsunami risk and implement policies and resilient building measures.  

Source:

https://tsunamiday.undrr.org