A/RES/60/15 Systems, adopted at the third Earth Observation Summit, in Brussels, on 16 February 2005, Taking note of the joint Asian-African leaders’ statement on tsunami, earthquake and other natural disasters, adopted at the Asian-African Summit 2005, held in Jakarta on 22 and 23 April 2005, 5 Also taking note of the report of the Secretary-General on strengthening emergency relief, rehabilitation, reconstruction, recovery and prevention in the aftermath of the Indian Ocean tsunami disaster, 6 Welcoming the appointment of Mr. William Jefferson Clinton, former President of the United States of America, as the Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Tsunami Recovery and the establishment of the Global Consortium for TsunamiAffected Countries to sustain the political will of the international community to support medium- and long-term rehabilitation, reconstruction and risk reduction efforts led by the Governments of affected countries, Taking note with appreciation of the convening of the Global Consortium for Tsunami-Affected Countries in June and September 2005, aimed at improving coordination among relevant stakeholders and developing a common online tracking system and common indicators to monitor and evaluate the impact of tsunami relief and rehabilitation programmes, which emphasizes the need to promote national ownership of the tracking processes in tsunami-affected countries, Welcoming ongoing efforts by the international system to capture, consolidate and disseminate lessons learned from the tsunami response and recovery to guide future disaster management at all levels, Welcoming also the establishment of the Multi-Donor Voluntary Trust Fund on Tsunami Early Warning Arrangements in the Indian Ocean and Southeast Asia, which will contribute to setting up an early warning system and to building up the capacity of the region in dealing with natural disasters, Welcoming further the proposed convening of a Third International Conference on Early Warning, in Bonn, Germany, from 27 to 29 March 2006, covering the complete range of natural hazards, with a focus on the urgent implementation of early warning systems for hydrometeorological and geological hazards on a global scale, Stressing the need to develop and implement risk reduction strategies and to integrate them, where appropriate, into national development plans, in particular through the implementation of the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction, so as to enhance the resilience of populations in disasters and reduce risks to them, their livelihoods, the social and economic infrastructure and environmental resources, Emphasizing that disaster reduction, including reducing vulnerability to natural disasters, is an important element that contributes to the achievement of sustainable development, Stressing the need for continued commitment to assist the affected countries and their peoples, particularly the most vulnerable groups, to fully recover from the _______________ 5 6 2 See A/59/841, annex. A/60/86-E/2005/77.

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