United Nations A/RES/57/256 General Assembly Distr.: General 6 February 2003 Fifty-seventh session Agenda item 87 (b) Resolution adopted by the General Assembly [on the report of the Second Committee (A/57/532/Add.2)] 57/256. 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 and 56/195 of 21 December 2001 and Economic and Social Council resolution 1999/63 of 30 July 1999, and taking note of Council resolution 2001/35 of 26 July 2001, Emphasizing the multisectoral, interdisciplinary and cross-cutting nature of natural disaster reduction, and stressing that continued interaction, cooperation and partnerships among the institutions concerned are considered essential to achieving jointly agreed objectives and priorities, Expressing its deep concern at the increasing number and scale of natural disasters within recent years, which have resulted in massive loss of life and longterm negative social, economic and environmental consequences for vulnerable societies throughout the world, in particular in developing countries, Recognizing that disaster reduction, including reducing vulnerability to natural disasters, is an important element that contributes to the achievement of sustainable development, Recalling that the annual observance of the International Day for Natural Disaster Reduction is on the second Wednesday of October, Recalling also the results, including the lessons learned, of the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction, outlined in the Geneva mandate on disaster reduction and the strategy document entitled “A safer world in the twenty-first century: risk and disaster reduction”, 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, _______________ 1 Adopted at the programme forum on the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction, held at Geneva from 5 to 9 July 1999. 02 55624