A/RES/52/200 Page 2 Considering that the national efforts of the countries affected have been insufficient owing to the magnitude of the natural disaster and that international cooperation and solidarity therefore become indispensable, in particular in the area of capacity-building, Reaffirming that disaster reduction forms an integral part of the sustainable development strategies and national development plans of vulnerable countries and communities, 1. Invites States to incorporate in sustainable development programmes, at the national, regional and international levels, strategies to prevent, mitigate and rehabilitate the damage caused by natural disasters; 2. Calls upon States, relevant intergovernmental bodies and all others involved in the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction to participate actively in the financial and technical support for Decade activities, including those related to international cooperation to reduce the impact of the El Niño phenomenon, in order to ensure the implementation of the International Framework of Action for the Decade,1 in particular with a view to translating the Yokohama Strategy for a Safer World: Guidelines for Natural Disaster Prevention, Preparedness and Mitigation and its Plan of Action2 into concrete disaster reduction programmes and activities; 3. Commends the national, regional and subregional efforts of affected countries, particularly those of developing countries, to reduce the impact of El Niño; 4. Requests the Secretary-General to facilitate, within the framework of the Decade, an internationally concerted and comprehensive strategy towards the integration of the prevention, mitigation and rehabilitation of the damage caused by the El Niño phenomenon, including the development of long-term strategies which take into due consideration the need for technical cooperation, financial assistance, the transfer of appropriate technology and the dissemination of existing scientific knowledge, as part of the Decade’s activities, the International Framework of Action for the Decade and the Yokohama Strategy for a Safer World: Guidelines for Natural Disaster Prevention, Preparedness and Mitigation and its Plan of Action, and taking into account the relevant parts of the Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States;3 5. Calls upon the secretariat of the Decade to continue to facilitate a concerted international approach to improvements in early-warning capacities for natural disasters and similar disasters with adverse impact on the environment, with particular reference to El Niño;4 6. Welcomes the establishment of the Inter-agency Task Force on El Niño for cooperative work on the prevention and mitigation of and preparedness for natural disasters related to the El Niño phenomenon; 7. Calls upon the organizations and bodies of the United Nations system, especially the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, the World Meteorological Organization, the World Health Organization, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the United Nations Environment Programme and the United Nations Development Programme, as well as the International Council of Scientific Unions and the World 1 See resolution 44/236, annex. 2 A/CONF.172/9, chap. I, resolution 1, annex I. 3 Report of the Global Conference on the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States, Bridgetown, Barbados, 25 April-6 May 1994 (United Nations publication, Sales No. E.94.I.18 and corrigenda), chap. I, resolution 1, annex II. 4 See resolutions 51/185, 49/22 B and 50/117 B. /...