United Nations
General Assembly
A/RES/59/231
Distr.: General
22 February 2005
Fifty-ninth session
Agenda item 85 (c)
Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 22 December 2004
[on the report of the Second Committee (A/59/483/Add.3)]
59/231. International Strategy for Disaster Reduction
The General Assembly,
Recalling its resolutions 44/236 of 22 December 1989, 49/22 A of 2 December
1994, 49/22 B of 20 December 1994, 53/185 of 15 December 1998, 54/219 of
22 December 1999, 56/195 of 21 December 2001, 57/256 of 20 December 2002 and
58/214 of 23 December 2003 and Economic and Social Council resolutions 1999/63
of 30 July 1999 and 2001/35 of 26 July 2001, and taking into due consideration its
resolution 57/270 B of 23 June 2003 on integrated and coordinated implementation
of and follow-up to the outcomes of the major United Nations conferences and
summits in the economic and social fields,
Recalling also the inclusion of the item entitled “Disaster management and
vulnerability” in the multi-year programme of work of the Commission on
Sustainable Development, 1
Reiterating that, although natural disasters damage the social and economic
infrastructure of all countries, the long-term consequences of natural disasters are
especially severe for developing countries and hamper the achievement of their
sustainable development,
Recognizing the urgent need to further develop and make use of the existing
scientific and technical knowledge to build resilience to natural disasters, and
emphasizing the need for developing countries to have access to technology so as to
tackle natural disasters effectively,
Expressing its deep concern at the number and scale of natural disasters and
their increasing impact within recent years, which have resulted in massive loss of
life and long-term negative social, economic and environmental consequences for
vulnerable societies throughout the world, in particular in developing countries,
Recognizing the need to continue to develop an understanding of, and to
address, socio-economic activities that exacerbate the vulnerability of societies to
natural disasters and to build and further strengthen community capability to cope
with disaster risks,
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1
See Official Records of the Economic and Social Council, 2003, Supplement No. 9 (E/2003/29), chap. I,
sect. A.
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